Amazing Grace
by Link-luvr
Summary: Love, prejudice, enslavement. Set 5 years or so after ToS. The heroes of the world race to save their friends when captured....but is it ever just as simple as rescuing two friends? Kraine
1. Prologue

A.N: Hello Ladies, Gentlemen, Boys, Girls, Dogs, Cats, Mushrooms, Angels, Hylians and anything else that may be reading this. Thanks for deciding to give this fic a try (even if it's just from a vague curiosity). I am link-luvr, aka Ali and I will be your author for...well the period of time it takes to write this fic.

This is my second ToS fic. It is also my second romance fic and my second Kraine fic. However, I warn you that this is not a fic completely based around getting Kratos and Raine together...there are some bigger issues and plots, so you get 2 for the price of one really. Or a BOGOF(F) offer on stories. There's a lot of stuff about racial prejudice against half-elves and the problems that the reunited world encounters.

Anyhoo. The title of this fic may well change when I think up a better one, so don't be surprised if it does.

This chapter is only the prologue, but I apologise for the awful way this was written (good start, eh?) but anyway, please give it a try. The other chapters won't be written in this style (If I tried to write an entire fic in this style, I think I may well end up killing myself).

Warning: Future chapters may contain scenes of graphic violence, bloodlust, gore, bad language and scenes of a sexual nature. Warnings will be posted at the beginning of each chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own anyone or anything except the original characters. Sequoia is mine. You can't have her. Kratos isn't mine...but you can't have him either..Mehehehe. Ahem. Yes, all credit for these awesome characters and plots goes to the wonderful people at Namco...we love you guys for bringing us happiness...and Kratos...and Yuan...and Lloyd...and Raine...and Zelos...and...

On with the fic already!!!!

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Amazing Grace

Prologue

_'Once upon a time, there existed a great tree that was the source of all mana. A war, however, caused this tree to wither and a hero's life was sacrificed in order to take it's place._

_Grieving for the loss, the goddess disappeared unto the heavens._

_The goddess left the angels with the edict:_

_"You must wake me, for if I should sleep, the world shall be destroyed."_

_The angels bore the Chosen One, who headed for the tower that reached up unto the heavens and that marked the beginning of the regeneration of the world._

_The Chosen One, borne of angels, sacrificed herself, in order to regenerate the world. Falling silent of body and mind, in this state she entered the prosperous parallel world._

_Through trial and suffering the chosen destroyed the false arch-angel and healed the severed worlds, uniting them._

_Time passed, and but a handful of years later, people of the world were taken away._

_The stolen lives were not of the blood of the chosen, nor the fair race, but of the marred blood that came of sin between the pure of blood.'_

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Short and badly written, but there's another chapter...and it's better. So please, review and bear with me..._  
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	2. Virginia

A.N: If you got to here, well done, keep reading. This one's better, I promise.

Warning: Violence and bloodshed. And prejudice against half-elves...just in case one is reading this.

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Virginia

_**Fables. Knowledge. Wisdom**_

'_People create fables. Fables pass on knowledge. Knowledge breeds wisdom. Wisdom flows through the world'._

_**May your wisdom start here.**_

Sequoia shuffled past the plaque on the wall that bore the academy's motto, smirking when she noticed that '-not in some crappy story' had been scrawled onto the plaque at the bottom.

The Palmacosta-Sybak academy, often known as 'Systa' to its students, was known for its terrible motto. It was just as well that the teaching was first rate.

Leading experts on all subjects, from all walks of life, gathered here to teach, from the most obscure subjects to the most banal.

Currently, it was the Sybak branch of the academy that was holding theoretical teaching subjects, whilst Palmacosta was holding the vocational subjects.

Sequoia was a theoretical girl, hence the choice of Sybak and her course. After all 'Angeology' was mostly conjecture.

Hurrying past a few other freshmen, who were loitering in the hall – completely lost, she found her classroom, the title of the course painted on the door.

'Angeology.

Professor: Lord K Aurion'

Knocking on the door, Sequoia slipped inside, hoping that the professor wouldn't be too angry about her lateness. It was only the first day.

"Miss Treen, I presume."

Sequoia nodded, looking at the floor.

"Yes sir, I apologise for my lateness, sir, but the academy is large and I had difficulty finding my way here."

"Humph…well, it is the first day, I'll let you off this once. Don't do it again though." The deep voice warned.

"Yes sir, thank you sir."

She looked up at her teacher and stumbled slightly, surprised by his appearance.

When she had applied for angeology, she had been expecting her professor to be some crazed, wiry, balding old man, with a long white beard, spectacles and maybe for him to be leaning on a gnarled cane, wearing odd, flowing robes.

Instead, she was greeted with a tall, handsome man in his late-twenties. Spiky dark auburn hair somehow managed to cover his face without making him look suspicious, even though only one ruby eye could be seen clearly. Even more amazingly, he still managed to look respectable despite the well sculpted hairstyle.

His stance was relaxed and confident, one hand resting on the desk, the other at his hip as he regarded her and the clothes he wore….nice.

There were no flowing, brightly coloured robes, but black pants, knee high boots and a snug black turtleneck sweatshirt that clung to the young teacher's body all too noticeably.

And my god, was it a nice body, she noticed, surreptitiously letting her gaze crawl over the broad shoulders, tapered slender waist and well defined muscles. She was sure she could almost see a six-pack, the top was that tight.

Blinking rapidly, Sequoia tried to clear her head of the image of that toned, black-clad body and began to make her way to a seat, when the teacher raised a pale hand.

"Miss Treen?" he asked, the voice deep, strong, smooth. Again, completely unlike what Sequoia had been expecting – a thin, cracked, frail wavering voice. "May I ask what your forename is…so that I can note it on the register?"

She shifted uncomfortably, looking at the already seated, largely human class.

"Sure, it's…Sequoia."

"Sequoia," he repeated with an air of disbelief "Sequoia….Tree..n?"

She nodded, blushing, and the man shook his head.

"Your parents have a cruel sense of humour," he commented, making a note on the register "Take a seat, please."

"It's not cruel really," stated a sneering voice from the class "Quite funny, actually. A stupid name for a stupid creature."

"I beg your pardon?" The young professor asked darkly, his words drawn out slowly, threateningly.

The human at the back of the class didn't seem to pick up on the threat.

"Haven't you realised she's a half-elf? Don't you read the application forms? – You have to state your race on them…although, she probably lied anyway.

"Mr. Bront, I am well aware of Miss Treen's heritage and it is of little concern to me. What's more, I will not tolerate racism, of any kind, in my presence…and if you continue to make such comments," he warned "I'll throw you off the course….understand?"

Waiting for any sign of a retort, he walked over to the blackboard. Silence issued from the back of the class.

"Good. Since this is the first lesson, I shall introduce myself formally and lay down some rules.

I, am Lord Aurion. You may refer to me as 'Professor' or 'Lord Aurion' as you prefer.

I have been studying all elements of angeology from an early age and am fluent in the angelic language…also, I'm considerably older than I appear to those of you who deem 'from a young age' insufficient for me to teach this course."

He paused for effect, letting the information sink in.

"As I have told most of my student in previous years, do not try and quiz me on my personal life, should you – for some reason- be interested. It is not a subject that is up for discussion."

A couple of girls in the centre row gave quiet groans of disappointment, eliciting a quirked eyebrow from Lord Aurion, and rolled eyes from the male students.

"As for the regulations of this class:

1 – You shall be punctual. No exceptions, unless it is a major emergency…and I will investigate whether it's an emergency, so don't constantly tell me that your grandmother has died.

2 – No talking during class, unless I give you permission.

3 – All essays etc. must be handed in on the deadline.

If you have a problem, see me at the end of the lessons and I will see what can be done." He turned his back to the class, picking up a piece of chalk.

"Oh," he added as an after thought "For those of you who think this is an easy subject where you can 'bunk off', I suggest you leave now. I am serious about this subject and I expect my students to be too."

He directed the words, alongside a glare, to a couple in the corner who appeared to be playing tonsil tennis. When the message didn't seem to get through, Professor Aurion strolled back to his desk, picked up a large stress ball that was sitting atop it, and threw it.

The ball hit the wall just above the heads of the couple, succeeding in breaking them apart.

"Thank you for finding time in your busy hormone fuelled schedule to give me your attention…now, out." He pointed calmly to the door, and the couple quickly scurried out, red-faced.

"I advise anyone else who's just experienced an epiphany to do the same."

No-one moved, either out of fear of incurring his quiet wrath, or a willingness to learn.

"Very well.

Angeology is a subject that has many different branches. Depending on the context, it can enter into theology, history, science, arts and language…and in obscure ways, other subjects.

I will be using this week to…"

"A copy of ' Theory of Angeology III' would be useful to you." The man concluded. "I hope that I'll see all of you here tomorrow and ready to…."

"Kratos!"

The door to the classroom burst open, revealing a slender white-haired young man, breathing heavily and looking anxiously at the professor.

"Kratos! We need your help!"

Kratos turned fully to the young man.

"Genis…what is it? What's happened?"

"It's Exire!" the boy gasped, still dragging in large amounts of air.

"What about it?"

"It's gone."

Kratos' brow furrowed.

"How do you mean 'gone'? It's a city…it won't just vanish."

"It's fallen out of the sky!...Man I never thought I'd say that."

"What?!"

The exclamation came from a slender purple haired girl on the front row.

"But my family live there!"

'_Not anymore' _Kratos thought, but refrained from saying it. "Calm down," he instructed before turning to the rest of the class and announcing "Class dismissed."

He turned and hurried out the door with Genis, grabbing the sheathed long-sword that was mounted on the wall. The steel blade had been a present from Lloyd, something he had made himself for his father once he had inherited Flamberge. The former mercenary would still need a blade, in case of emergencies…such as this.

"Professor Aurion, wait!" the called after him.

"Miss Treen, go and find your friends. Wait with them. I'll inform you of what's happened when I return and no," he cut off whatever she was about to say. "You can't come."

The auburn haired man turned his back on her and ran, catching up with the other half-elf who had jogged down the hall.

"She's cute," Genis commented.

"It's wonderful that you think of such things when a city has been destroyed. What happened to Exire?"

"That's the problem, we don't know. Raine and I were in her classroom when we saw a trail of smoke in the sky, so we ran up to the observatory and the whole city was just…falling."

"Where is Raine now?"

"She's getting the rheiards ready."

The two men took a sharp right, sprinting to the entrance, the matt cream paint and stone work of the walls blurring, Genis actually managing to keep pace with Kratos.

In the years that had passed, the half-elf had grown from his rather small height of 5'2" to a more respectable 5'7" and was, consequently, even taller than Raine now, and just an inch or so shorter than Lloyd.

Bursting out of the main doors, they took a left into the wide alley where transportation vehicles were stored. Raine was already on her rheiard, the machine humming slightly as it hovered and she looked over her shoulder at Kratos, giving him an uneasy smile in greeting.

Kratos nodded in return, strapping the long-sword at his waist and pulling out ethereal blue wings that cast a pallet of blues, purples and gold to dance along the brick walls on either side of him. Noticing that Genis was settled on his rheiard, the seraph kicked off from the ground, surging into the air, wind whipping his hair back from his face as he headed for the clouds.

The seraph levelled off his ascent, high above the university town of Sybak, gazing out over the new landscape of the world since the two lands were reunited.

The geography of certain regions had changed drastically since the worlds had been reintegrated. Mizuho and the Gaorrachia forest had latched onto the Iselia forest, making it one massive labyrinth of trees. Flanoir was at the bottom of the world, tucked neatly out of sight, the Triet desert at the opposite end of the world, at the far north. Everything else had just sort of…forced their way into a place on the map and that was that. Needless to say, the inhabitants hadn't taken kindly to the geographical changes, or their new neighbours. The first few years following the reunification of the worlds, fraught with wars, uprisings and a lot of political battles between neighbouring territories.

Now, in the fourth year, things seemed to be cooling down, although it was unlikely that all aspects would be resolved until a few decades had passed. On the other hand, some regions seemed to be getting on famously with their new neighbours. The Iselians and people of Mizuho had formed an allegiance with each other, Sybak, Palmacosta and at least the Imperial research lab of Meltokio had been exchanging information since they had made contact a month or so after the worlds had collided.

Kratos considered his decision to return to earth, surmising that he had made the right choice….not that he really had a choice. When Derris-Kharlan had circled back around to earth and got stuck in the gravitational field again, it had started to disintegrate, its mana raining down onto the earth, helping the sapling of the great tree grow. Of course, he probably could have found a way to free it and set off again but really…what was he going to do up there? Stuck on a deserted comet, floating in outer space for an eternity. Pure hell, really.

No, Kratos was sure he had done the right thing. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the rheiards rising through the clouds to meet him, and Raine caught his full attention.

The professor had cut her hair into a short, styled bob that highlighted the shape of her face. Her eyes were bright blue, brought out by the crisp cerulean shirt she was wearing, her skin as pale and as smooth as ever.

Yes, he had made the right choice, in staying on earth. Now all he had to do was make the decision to get to know the professor a little better. Despite having known her for 5 years now, the seraph hadn't got to know her personally…he supposed that they could be called friends...distantly, but little more than that…

Shaking his head, Kratos beat his wings, flying over to the two half-elves who were waiting for him.

The trio flew north-west, skimming over mountains, the Ossa Trail blurring past below them, following an ever darkening trail of smoke.

"What do you think has happened?" Genis called.

"Whoever has been kidnapping half-elves over the past couple of years has decided to hit the main base." Kratos answered, and received a curse against humans in response.

The former Grand Tethe'alla Bridge, now just the Grand Bridge, materialised into view, and the three lowered their altitude, tracking the black smoke as it arced over the structures tall pillars.

As the bridge came closer into view however, Kratos noticed that it was not entirely in one piece, and he increased his wing beat rate to get a closer look.

The tops of the towers along the middle of the bridge were bent and dented, the metal ripped open in a gaping gash on one, as though something extremely large and heavy had smashed into it.

"I think it came this way!" Genis shouted sarcastically over the wind.

Spurred on, the angel ignored the half-elf's comments, lowering his height further still, speeding over an expanse of dark blue sea water, the column of black smoke billowing just over a mountain, thick and black.

Rising over the mountain, Kratos strained his wings against the buffeting the rheiards on either side of him were causing, and then all at once, the grounded city came into view.

The outline was hazed by the smoke surrounding it, but there was no mistaking the condition of the settlement.

The rotating rings that kept the city aloft were broken, shattered beyond repair in most cases, one still feebly turning. The docking isle of the city was submerged in the sea, the haven resting awkwardly on land, like a beached whale.

Flames engulfed one of the isles completely, sending up that acrid black smoke and a wave of heat-haze.

Settling down on a platform that wasn't completely engulfed by flame, Raine and Genis hopped off their rheiards, drawing weapons whilst Kratos retracted his wings and drew his sword, holding it loosely in his right hand.

It was deathly silent. No signs of life lingered anywhere about the half-elf haven, and the three cautiously edged along the bent walkway, alert for anything, but it seemed that the uninhabitance wasn't about to change.

Approaching the central isle cautiously, a body came into view, face down on the grass, and Genis and Raine ran forward to aid the person. Kratos followed slowly, assessing the area, aware that it was probably already too late for the person.

After a moment, Raine sat back on her haunches, looking back to Kratos and shaking her head.

He walked over to the siblings, taking note of the injuries on the body.

The supposed half-elf lay face down, bloody tears adorning the back of the fitted green dress that the figure worse.

Raine and Genis hadn't bothered to turn the body over. Nobody could survive those wounds, not to mention the fact that a large pool of congealed blood lay under the person's head, produced by a heavy blow to the back of the skull. The white hair around the wound was stained red.

White hair.

Kratos glanced to Genis, sitting to his right, feeling his stomach turn uneasily at the similarity of the colour.

Raine had noticed it too, perhaps knowing who the fallen figure was already, and for that reason, hadn't turned the body.

Kneeling down, Kratos grabbed the cold, stiff shoulders and, with an apologetic look to Raine, turned the slender corpse over.

It was a woman who looked to be in her early forties…probably 500 or so, in elven ages.

She was tall and slender, long silver-white hair, bound by a copper circlet, hung limply around her tapered face. Elegance exuded from the figure, despite her state, the glazed ice-blue eyes and snow white skin a key feature of her race.

Kratos heard Raine take a breath.

One of the woman's arms was wrapped around a doll that was pressed into her chest, the other resting over her flat abdomen as if to protect an unborn child.

There was no doubt about it. The pure-blooded elven woman, was Virginia.

Raine swallowed thickly, a lump in her throat at the sight of her mother's dead body. Part of her wondered if she should be more upset over her mother's death…whether she should be sobbing hysterically or begging life to return to the already frozen corpse. But she wasn't.

There was remorse, sadness and grief, but little more than what she would give a dying stranger. This was her own _mother. _The woman who had given birth to her, raised her for eleven years, even if it was only to abandon her and Genis in the end.

Excusing herself from her brother and Kratos' presence, she walked to the nearest, crumbling house, leaning on it, staring out at the lake as she tried to collect her thoughts.

She could hear Kratos and Genis in quiet conversation behind her, the younger man asking for confirmation that this was the mother he had never known. The older man gave a hushed affirmation, closing the eyes of the body, covering it with a ragged blanket that lay nearby.

They waited in differing degrees of patience for Raine to pull herself together.

Kratos glanced around the immediate area, his hand tightening on his sword, becoming increasingly suspicious of the silence. He understood that she needed time to process the information, to organize her thoughts but…it was unlikely that they were going to be alone for much longer.

Genis looked up at the mercenary, shaking his head, and tried not to look at the body behind him. It seemed to be a morbid fascination of his, however, for he couldn't stop his eyes from drifting back to the covered body. He wanted to run, get away from the body of his mother, whom he felt nothing but a distant, impersonal grief for. She may have created him, but he didn't know her, had no connection to her…nevertheless, he wanted to get away.

A few minutes passed in silence, the air becoming thick with tension as much as smoke and heat from the growing fires, and Raine heard quiet footfalls coming in her direction.

Ever so slowly, Kratos' hand came to rest tentatively on her shoulder, as if she would turn and bite his head off for touching her. She didn't, but nor did she welcome to the hand, whatever the reason.

Sighing, Raine closed her eyes, accepting the apprehensive comfort offered. For all her bravado, strong will and independence, once in a while, she needed the comfort offered by another person. It was odd that it should be Kratos who was offering her it…and especially so with Genis around, but it was even more odd, Raine thought, that she was accepting from the mercenary-turned-professor.

"I apologize if what I say next seems presumptuous but…you were very young when you truly lost her." The angel murmured, his voice soft in an attempt to comfort the agitated woman (not something he was particularly good at, he had to admit).

"I am," she paused and corrected herself "was…her daughter… for eleven years…does that count for nothing? Does it become cancelled out because she abandoned me and brother, even though she was only trying to save us? Even though she thought it was right?"

"Even if there was nothing else she thought she could do, even if there truly was nothing else she could have done…her choice was not necessarily right…or wrong."

"I'm…"

"In shock." He stated, ending the discussion "Let's examine what happened here, then return. We'll take her body with us and find somewhere to lay her to rest."

Raine nodded. "Yes, you're right. Here and now is our priority."

"Alright, let's start over there." He pointed to the other isle, pulling out his sword again and retreating from the tension that Raine was radiating, looking for Genis.

The younger half-elf had already started clambering over the bent walkway that led to the next platform of the city, apparently having noticed something the two adults hadn't, and they hurried to catch up to him.

The new area was in much the same state as the last, save for a fire that was rapidly consuming a house and the trio stopped at the end of the bridge, surveying the area before entering, when a soft voice was carried to them on the wind.

Weak, frail and scared, the words were barely audible over the roar of the nearby fire, and it was only due to Kratos' sharp hearing that the words were caught at all.

"Gone. All gone."

An old man stumbled from beneath a fallen shack and hobbled towards the newcomers, clearly not in his right mind. His voice sounded more like a lament for the dead than anything.

"All gone. All gone." He repeated.

"Who's gone?" Genis asked, hesitantly. He was eager to see if this man knew what had happened here, and to help the other half-elf…but it was risky.

The man's gaze locked onto him and he began to hobble over to Genis. Behind the youngest half-elf, Kratos drew himself to full height, uncomfortable and suspicious of the man.

"Half-elves. The exiled, who live here, dragged in chains and driven by whips of the faithless men."

"Faithless men?" Raine asked

"Humans…those who have no faith in the heavens." He noticed Kratos suddenly, his challenging stance behind Genis, and shrank away from him.

"Run, dear boy, my brethren, run before they…"

The words stopped abruptly as a burst of red blossomed onto the front of his tunic, a bloodstained sliver blade following through.

Gasping and gurgling, the man fell, but the sword in his chest, lodged in bone, stopped him from crumpling to the floor. A second later, the sword was yanked free and the heavy body fell.

"They never keep their mouths shut, do they?"

Genis backed up, stumbling into Raine as he stared at the old man's killer.

He was human, short and stocky, greying hair plastered to his forehead beneath an open fronted helmet. His clothes were a rich shade of copper, the material woven with metallic thread to give it it's colour, but the dark red bloodstains marred the cloth, and his bare, heavily tattooed arms were just as badly spattered with bodily fluids

A golden strip of material, which once would've been a sash, hung from his waist, fluttering in the heat haze. Kratos could just about make out the word printed on it, the motion of the cloth making it difficult to read.

'_Saloth'sar? But that's the angelic language...how do they know that?'_

A small logo accompanied the name, a depiction of a fallen angel, its white wings twisted and torn.

The same image was tattooed onto the man's arms, broken sets of wings, twirled around his arm in a grotesque sacrilegious chain.

A sense of alarm formed in Kratos' mind.

Raine tightened her grip on her staff as beside her, Genis started muttering a spell.

"So you're the one who's been kidnapping half-elves," she commented, watching as more men, dressed in various coloured uniforms appeared from the smoke and debris.

"Silence, she-elf," the man hissed, "You will be places under arrest and taken to the containment unit, along with your companions…if you struggle...we'll kill him." He pointed straight at Kratos.

"He's human." Raine stated, confident that the information would get the mercenary off the hook.

The man shrugged "Any human that works alongside and tolerates half-elves deserves death."

"Is that so?" she asked, raising her staff "Try this then."

Before the man had time to reply, a bolt of lightening coursed down from a black cloud overhead. He fell to the floor, his dead body twitching from the current running through it.

Genis lowered his kendama.

Stunned silence had settled over the remaining soldiers, a few of them jittering at the electricity in the air around them, as they stared at their dead commander.

Unsure as to what action to take against such a threatening opponent, they jostled backwards, before a harsh voice from the rear of the troops screamed a blood-curse.

Instantly, the human soldiers recovered, and rushed towards their opponents, screaming racial slurs and promises of pain.

Raine pirouetted, intending to find a spot where she could cast spells, and found her path blocked on all sides.

To her left and back, a wall of flame and soldiers. To her right, Kratos was already engaged in a fight.

Kratos ducked the soldier's blade as it swung down towards him, diving to the side, able to feel the knife edge skim past his leg as he made the movement.

He rolled upright, turned, plunged his own blade through the man's chest as he turned to face him. Yanking the blade free, he flipped it, slamming it through the stomach of the soldier he could sense behind him.

The angel spun on the spot, searching for Raine and Genis, his first instinct to get them away from the fight, but they were already lost among the other soldiers.

A man ran at him, sword raised, cursing him, and Kratos coolly side-stepped the crude attack, slashing his sword through the man's neck as he passed. The soldier's head lolled back, all but severed, blood pouring from slashed blood vessels, wine coloured liquid staining the ground as it poured.

A cry of surprise over the other side of the isle made Kratos wrench his attention away from the victim and focus on the source. Through a swarm of soldiers, he saw Raine fighting off her own attackers, the staff in her hands being wielded expertly, the heavy gem at the end slamming into the heads of the soldiers. A thin red line travelled across her pale cheek where a blade had caught her.

Genis was nowhere in sight. Without anyone to keep away attackers, the kendama was useless upfront.

Growling, Kratos twirled his sword, settling it into a more comfortable position in his palm, scanning his oncoming opponents.

Three in front, two flanking him on each side, two behind. Nine in total. No time for magic, too many to fight off with the blade…but it was the only option, other than dying.

The men were closing in, their weapons drawn, forming a tight circle so that he couldn't escape.

The mercenary stood to his full height among them, heart pounding, blood awash with adrenaline, his only thought of survival of the next few minutes. The long-sword hung limply by his side as the men continued to approach, mere feet away now.

With a flurry of movement, the seraph flashed the blade to his right, decapitating one of the two flanking his right side. A roundhouse kick followed, knocking the other to the floor, and Kratos carried the momentum into his next move, lowering the blade to slash through the knee cap of one of the men behind him.

Stopping the movement, he stood, instantly sending his sword to his left hand to whistle through the neck of the other, the force of the backslash fully decapitating the man.

Throwing the steel into his dominant hand, he rotated in bringing it down and left, then sweeping it in an upward arc, removing the sword arm of another.

A scream of anguish and agony split the air, a high, female cry from behind and Kratos faltered, the cry stealing his attention from his fight for a second.

It was long enough.

Kratos gave his own roar of pain, a sword protruding from his left hip and it was dragged diagonally upwards, against the curve of his waist in a motion that seemed to last forever.

The blade was wrenched free, and a hard blow to the back of his head followed. The seraph folded, crashing down onto the blood soaked earth, his head spinning.

He had only been there a second it seemed before he was wrenched up onto his knees, his body feeling entirely detached from his mind.

Knelt on the floor, injured and unarmed, Kratos felt a hand in his hair snapping his head backwards, exposing his throat. Staring down the length of his nose, the seraph could see Genis in much the same position, his hands bound behind him, arms covered in bruises.

Distantly, he felt his own hands being roughly tied, a sliver of cold metal being placed against his throat. His eyes slid across to Raine.

The half-elf was still standing, struggling against her captors, trying to wrench free of the vice-like grips on her arms.

She was saying something, but in his state, Kratos couldn't make out the words, but the tone was cutting and cold, not the hysterical screaming one would expect.

Blood dripped from her shoulder, soaking into her clothing.

"Quiet, woman!" the volume of the voice was loud enough for the mercenary to make out the words, along with the slap that followed unceremoniously. He pulled against his captors, lucid enough to understand that the three of them were in grave danger, a feeling of complete inadequacy engulfing him at his helplessness.

People he cared about, captured by soldiers, and once again, he was unable to save them.

A discussion seemed to be taking place amongst the captors before the highest ranking stepped forwards, announcing;

"Take them to the ICC."

"But sir, this one," the soldier restraining Kratos shoved his captive roughly "is human."

"Leave him."

"But he's alive."

The commander walked over and studied the auburn haired man "He'll die of blood loss. Leave him."

Hands threw the angel to the floor before raining down blows on him. Kicks and punches slammed into the body, shattering bones, leaving the subject barely conscious.

His vision blurred and nerves screaming pain from every area of his body. Kratos lay immobile on the floor, watching through blurred eyes as his half-elf companions were led away, garbled instructions and yells of indignation, helplessness, fear for him rang in his ears.

A pair of heavily booted feet appeared in front of him.

"Goodnight."

The black shape blurred as it crashed into his face.

* * *

Ohhhh drama!

Please review, kind, friendly, love-able people!


	3. Kidnapped!

A.N: Hi, new update. After all and old update wouldn't be any use...I digress.

Bit of a short chapter here, I'm afraid. Chapter length consistency is not one of my strong points I'm afraid, so this is more of a filler chapter than anything. But anyway, read if you will.

* * *

Kidnapped

Whispers of everyday life whipped past his ears, pulling his mind from out of its self-induced fog and back into his current situation.

A bird chirped loudly, sitting on a branch outside the window and Kratos cringed at the frequency of the bird's song.

Grumbling, he opened his eyes and then snapped them shut against the bright light. He cautiously opened one eye again, letting it adjust before opening the other just as slowly, wondering how long it had been since he had last woken up with blurry vision and a blinding headache. A hundred years at least.

Rolling over onto his back, the seraph stared at the ceiling above him, trying to collect his thoughts and memories of…well, whatever it was he last saw.

'_Exire…Genis! Raine!'_

He sat bolt upright, gasping as pain shot up through his torso and nausea made his head swim. Looking down at his body, he pulled the bed sheets away, assessing the damage to his torso, carefully removing the blood-soaked pads that formed a line down his stomach and hip.

The wound had been roughly sewn closed, as if the person who had done it wasn't completely at ease with the idea, and the ragged, raised red line contrasting sharply to his smooth white skin.

He quickly looked over the rest of his torso, noting the bandages wrapped around his cracked ribs and the bruises that adorned his chest and abdomen.

All in all, some relatively serious damage had been done, not to mention the fact that his head was still swimming slightly.

A quiet knock on the door, interrupted his thoughts, and Kratos quickly pulled the sheets over his naked body.

The door open a second later, and a worried looking Lloyd entered the room, Colette in tow. The former visibly relaxed when he saw that his father was awake.

"Hey, Dad."

"Lloyd." He replied in greeting

"Hi Kratos! Oh my gosh, we're so glad you're awake. Lloyd found you unconscious on Exire, and he brought you back here, and we were all so worried, 'cos you never get hurt or anything. But you're feeling better now, right?" the ex-chosen babbled.

"Other than a slight headache and some pain, I'm fine Colette, thank you for your concern."

Lloyd rolled his eyes at the older man's formal response to Colette.

"So anyway, can you tell us what happened, or shall we leave you alone for a while? We can get you some food or something if you want."

Kratos shook his head slowly, trying not to start another wave of nausea off.

"I'm still attempting to gather my thoughts at the moment...Colette said you found me on Exire. How did you know I was there?"

Lloyd shrugged, sitting on the edge of the bed "When the professor saw Exire go down she sent a message to us explaining what you were going to do."

The seraph narrowed his eyes "How long have I been unconscious?"

"Two days or so."

Horror blossomed in the pit of his stomach, adding to the feeling on nausea that was already running rampant in his system.

"Two days…since you found me? How long did it take you to get the message and get to Exire then?"

"A day. The messenger came on a rhieard, so he got here really quickly…" the younger man paused, seeing his father chewing at his lower lip "Dad? Where are the professor and Genis? They weren't anywhere on Exire."

"I'm unsure. I'm certain of one thing though."

"What?"

"They're with every other half-elf that has been kidnapped over the past four years."

------------------------------------

"They've been kidnapped? Seriously?! What the hell was Kratos doing? Staring in the other direction?" Zelos snapped, flicking his long red hair behind his shoulder angrily, pacing around the living room of Lloyd's house.

"Zelos!" Sheena scolded "I doubt he just let them be taken. C'mon he was knocked unconscious and you've _seen _the injuries he's got, there must've been too many for him to fight off."

"I still don't trust him. He betrayed us once, why not again?"

"'Cos he's my dad. That's why." Lloyd stated, glaring at the red-head.

"It's not like you never betrayed us anyway," the ninja woman muttered under her breath.

"I have to agree with Lloyd. It would not seem to serve Kratos any purpose to betray any of our trust in this situation and there is evidence of a struggle. That aside, we need to discuss how to get Raine and Genis back above all else." Regal stated, raising his voice above Zelos who was now mumbling about seraphine conspiracies.

Lloyd nodded emphatically. "From what Dad…Kratos, whatever, says, it's been about three days since they've been taken. So wherever they've been taken to, they're definitely there by now."

"If they're still alive."

Heads turned towards Presea at her brief statement.

"I merely mean to say, they were taken and the only account we have of what happened is Kratos' and he was knocked unconscious before he saw what happened to them."

"He said that the men who he fought talked about capturing half-elves."

"That does not mean that they are still alive. I do not wish to cause grief, but I feel that we have to consider the possibility."

"Well then we assume the best before we confirm the worst!" Lloyd growled, standing up from the chair armchair he had been occupying "I refuse to believe that the professor and Genis are dead unless I see it for myself!"

"Lloyd's right on that," Sheena agreed "But…we have no idea where to start, even though we want to find them. There's nothing to follow from Exire, we don't know if they're even alive, and we don't have a clue where they, or any other half-elves that have been kidnapped, have been taken to."

"And how're we gonna get the time to look?" Zelos asked, ignoring the group's shocked looks "Don't get me wrong, I want to but…some of us can't afford to get the time off work…"

"Zelos…Raine and Genis are.."

"I know! But come on…Kratos is injured, you're working to pay for the house and you have a deadline to meet, Colette is needed in the village as a healer, Regal and Presea are working on this building project, Sheena's got some super secret mission to go on and I'm….well, stealth isn't my strong point."

"Not to mention that we can't let anyone go alone." Sheena replied offhandedly.

"So what do we do?" Lloyd asked dejectedly.

"Couldn't we ask around if people have noticed something strange going on?" Colette suggested

Regal shook his head "I doubt that it would work. People are likely to fear what would happen if they told us and it's unlikely that the place they've been taken to is as obvious as a human ranch."

Lloyd sighed "The professor and Genis would know what to do…."

"Um..I'd just like to point out that at least three people here have wings." Zelos commented "Couldn't you and Colette, maybe Kratos when he's back in action, just fly around for any signs…you could probably get Yuan to help too since most of his precious Renegades are half-elves and are probably kidnapped."

The young swordsman who had collapsed back into his armchair nodded vaguely "I suppose it's the only thing we can do right now."

"And I can use my connections to see if anyone knows anything," Regal offered "The business takes Presea and I all over the world."

"That's great. We can get started tomorrow morning and we'll find Genis and Professor Sage in no time." Colette chirped.

The assembled group murmured in agreement, discussing ways in which they could help to find the missing half-elves.

"Ah…I'm sorry guys; I need to get back to Mizuho…the chief wants me to check out some disturbances in the remnants of the old village and I've gotta head off late tonight. And you're coming too Zelos."

The ex-chosen spun towards her "What?! Since when?"

"Since you became my external support. You know the King of Tethe'alla insists that you accompany me to make sure I'm not sabotaging anything."

Zelos mumbled something intelligible under his breath, but didn't argue with the ninja.

"Yeah….but, how come Mizuho is split in two? I still don't get it." Lloyd asked.

Sheena sighed "It's simple, Lloyd, we like to keep posts all over the world to monitor activities…it's part of the Mizuho Intelligence Network. Having the old village still inhabitable just means it's somewhere to look out from, especially since it's so close to the site of the Tower of Salvation."

"Right, gotcha…so, when'll we see you again?"

"Probably in a few days. If there's nothing going on, it'll probably be a week. If there's something to report…well, less time."

"K."

"We'll see you later then," Sheena walked to the door, dragging a reluctant Zelos along with her, but she paused in the doorway, looking back at the rest of the group "Don't worry, you especially Lloyd…we'll find them soon."

The boy gave her a tight-lipped smile "I know. See ya later."

"Ok, see you in a few days."

"Yeah, see ya….if I live," Zelos shouted, following the female ninja out of the house.

"I'm afraid Presea and I will have to leave soon, too." Regal informed Lloyd "We have a new project starting in a few days and we have to sort out the travel arrangements."

"Yes, but we will start asking around for information about Raine and Genis immediately."

Presea quickly added.

"Yeah, I know you will. Everyone'll do what they can, but I won't stop worrying until I know they're safe."

"Of course you won't," Colette stated, sitting next to him "You wouldn't be you if you didn't."

The brunet laughed weakly "I guess that's true."

"Lloyd, the Professor and Genis are stronger than they look. I believe that they will be fine until we can rescue them."

He lifted his head at Presea's words "Yeah…I should have more faith in them."

"Yes…do not overexert yourself through worrying Lloyd. We do not want to find out that you've overdone it when we return."

"Don't worry guys, I'll be fine." Lloyd waved his hand "We'll see you in a few days, yeah?"

"Yes, you shall."

Regal and Presea stood from their respective positions and walked to the door.

"Give Kratos our regards once he wakes again," Regal requested as he left the house, Presea in tow.

The door shut behind them with a heavy thud. Lloyd stared at it wistfully for a moment before shaking his head.

"Guess it's just you and me again." He looked to Colette, taking her hand in his.

"Kratos is still here."

"He's asleep."

"…Do you really think that Raine and Genis will be ok?"

"Yeah, I'm sure they will be."

* * *

OK, hoped that wasn't too boring for you, although I'm aware it was a lot of talking and not much else. However, chapter 3 is already underway and it's (hopefully) going to be a good one. I can guarantee it's better than this. 

Hope you'll review, see ya later.


	4. Alone

A.N: Just the usual here.Thanks for the kind reviews and being added to so many alert lists etc. Sorry about the delay. Back in school ful time...gah.

Anyhoo, enjoy the chapter.

* * *

Alone

"Halt!"

The gruff call that reached Raine's ears came from high above, presumably from a watch tower or some such building. Blindfolded as she was, she could only use her hearing to understand the situation.

"State Identification and Purpose!"

"Commander Thwaite 1-3-7, replacing late Commander Swale 0-2-7. On return from Impure sanctuary reconnaissance upon capture of impures."

"…Identification and purpose recognised. Open the gate!"

A loud grating sound shook the area as the screech of rusted metal hinges announced the opening of the gates to…wherever it was they were.

"Move."

A spear tip prodded Raine in the shoulder and she held her head high, despite her blinded and bound state as she was marched forwards. Marching footsteps accompanied her, keeping her in line as she was roughly guided to a new area. A dank smell, similar to that of mildew, filled her nose as she entered the new place and it reminded her of the Temple of Earth. The texture of grass and earth faded from underfoot, replaced with solid stone, the tone of the footsteps changing with the transition in flooring. Distantly, she noticed an increase in mana presence in the air, causing the hairs on the back of her neck to prickle…this place, the atmosphere, the smell, it seemed familiar.

Ahead of her, keys jangled, metal squealed again and somehow, it seemed to get darker…more oppressive.

"Halt. Secure area."

Heavy thuds of bootsteps echoed in the area, and a cacophony of noise temporarily deafened her.

"Take the prisoners to the holding area for sorting."

She was pushed this time, a palm roughly shoved against her shoulder in a general direction and after a short walk, she was pushed forward, her blindfold ripped off and a gate slammed shut behind her.

Blinking rapidly, Raine tried to adjust her eyes to the twilit area she was in.

It was a small, damp room deep underground, a heavy earthy smell hanging in the air. The walls were clad in wire mesh, forming a compound, a length of wire behind her holding the gate, forming a front wall, a similar piece ahead of her creating a back wall.

"Raine…" Genis' voice was small, nervous and she looked to her little brother, placing a hand on his shoulder in reassurance whilst her eyes returned to scanning the room.

"This place is so familiar," she mused, watching water trickling down a rough red-brown wall. Moss grew up the sides, a gnarled tree root peeking out through a crack, dead and rotting.

"That root…This isn't…?" Genis questioned, swapping into the same analytical mode as his sister.

"The root, the increased mana in the air, those walls, the familiarity…"

"We're underneath the Tower of Salvation's ruins, aren't we?"

"Yes, I think so. I don't think the great tree's roots would've destroyed the structure underneath just yet. It's a ready made base for…whoever these people are."

"They're half-elf haters."

The voice was murmured from the far corner of the cell, making the two half-elves jump. They hadn't realised they weren't alone.

"Over here, in the far corner." The voice directed and Genis and Raine crept forward into the shadowed area.

Huddled in a dark, wet corner, were five half elves.

"We've been here two days," the voice repeated and they turned to the owner. A young man with greasy black hair looked up at them from under his long fringe, his eyes wary.

"What are they planning to do with us?" Raine asked, noting slender, pointed ears on the young man…he was more elf than half-elf.

"Who knows? They keep saying about 'sorting' us, but never actually do anything…where did they catch you?"

"Exire," she answered automatically "My brother and I were investigating why it fell, but they ambushed us and….oh, gods…"

"Raine?" Genis asked, looking up at her, questioning the worried tone.

"Kratos….I was so wrapped up in what's happened to us I'd forgotten about him."

"They left a half-elf?" the black haired man questioned "Odd."

"No, not half-elf. Kratos is human." Genis informed him.

"You had a human guardian?" the question came from a woman cradling a small baby.

"Friend, not guardian." Raine corrected "Gods, if he's dead it's my fault."

"He's Kratos, sis. It'd take more than a stab and a blow across the head to kill him."

"That's true…and I did send a note to Lloyd before we left."

"See? He'll be OK…I think we need to focus on _our _situation right now."

"Yes, you're right." She took a breath and turned to the other half-elves. "Tell me everything you know."

A teenage girl at the black-haired man's side scoffed. "We don't know anything. We were brought here 2 days ago, locked up and left in this pen. All we know is that they're going to sort us and that they're capturing half-elves."

Raine nodded "OK… we know where we are. So…"

The metal door that led into the chamber slammed open behind them, and Raine spun to face the human who had just entered.

He was a tall man, flanked by six soldiers, three on either of his sides. Striding to the gate he quickly tapped a number into the lock and pulled the gate open, entering the pen.

"Well then, seven are there? And in three days. Not a bad number." He looked to the half-elves in the corner and motioned for one of his men to go and stand by a set of metal doors set into the left wall.

"Alright. Women first, followed by the men, let's go." He pointed to the door, gesturing for Raine to go through to the next room.

Instead, the professor merely stood and stared back at the man defiantly. "Move, or be moved, woman."

No response.

Striding towards the half-elves, he brushed past Raine and grabbed the adolescent girl, throwing her in the direction of the door. She stumbled and fell, grazing her arm. Hurriedly she got up and after a moment of staring at the man and his soldiers, ran through the door. The other females, the woman holding the baby and a small girl, about 8 years old, scurried after her.

The commanding man turned back to Raine and inclined his head towards the door "Move."

Despite the threat, Raine still refused to move and the man snarled in irritation. "We've got a stubborn one here."

Seizing hold of her in a motion that was too quick to dodge, he grasped her by the hair and pulled her into the adjoining room, shouting for the males to be brought through as well.

Raine struggled against the man, holding onto his arm in an attempt to ease the grip on her hair, kicking out at him all the time. Her foot caught the back of his knee and it buckled slightly, but he didn't falter in his dragging her, instead tightening the grip on her hair.

The room she was being dragged into, along with the other half-elves, was a blinding white, and as she took note of the room, she heard the metal doors clang shut. There was no way out…not that way anyway.

"Females on the other side."

She was suddenly released from the man's grip. Or rather, thrown, into the wall to her left where the other female half-elves were being lined up in military fashion. Warm hands pressed against her back, stopping her from slamming into the wall and Raine twisted to see the turquoise haired teenage girl that had given her such a sarcastic response earlier.

Raine nodded in thanks at her, and the girl gave her a slight smile before she helped to pull her to her feet, placing a steadying hand at her back.

A scream to their left made them turn to the noise, to see the woman with the baby fighting with a soldier trying to prise the wailing baby from her.

"Hey!"

Raine had cried it before she even realised she was thinking about it, and all eyes turned towards her. Fidgeting, not knowing what she was going to do now that she had the attention of the guards, she tried to come up with a plan…one that didn't seem to want to appear to her.

After a moment, the white haired woman straightened her back and raised her head, facing the offending guard in a manner that she hoped would make him back off. Though she doubted that it would.

"Yes? Is there something you'd like to say, she-elf?" the commander, who had dragged her into the room, mocked her, mirroring her stance and staring down his nose at her.

"…What the hell do you intend to do here?"

The question wasn't quite what she had been hoping for as a means of assering herself, but it worked at diverting the attention from the mother and babe. For a moment, anyway.

"You'll be sorted, assigned to quarters, and put to work."

"Doing what, exactly?"

The commander chuckled, a dark sound that made Raine shiver slightly. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of Genis, staring at her with a look that warned her not to do anything stupid.

'_Too late. I've turned into Lloyd already.'_

"It's none of your concern for the moment…now, since you've been ever so interested in what we're going to do here, you can go first and give the rest of your filthy kind an example of what's to happen here."

His hand whipped out and closed around her bicep in a grasp that threatened to snap the bone in her upper arm. Raine pulled back slightly, testing the grip he had on her, but the warning squeeze on her arm caused her to wince and she quickly moved back to ease the pressure on her arm. Giving a twisted attempt at a smile, he pulled her to the front of the room where a steel table stood, causing Raine to eye it uneasily.

Dissection tables, stained with old, dried blood, and fitted with leather restraints were rarely a good sign.

From behind a curtain screen, a man dressed in plain white clothes appeared, a pair of white latex gloves on his thin, bony hands and Raine tensed, her muscles bunching into knots beneath her skin.

"New lot, eh?" the man addressed the commander, pulling lank brown hair into a short ponytail.

"Been here 2 days tops, Dr. Griffin."

"Is that so? Better get them settled in quickly then?" he gave a shark like grin to the other man before turning, presenting the same grin to Raine.

"Now, dear," he addressed the half-elf, his voice sickeningly patronising "If you'd just like to sit on the table."

"And if I wouldn't?" Raine asked, folding her arms across her chest defensively.

The doctor's grin faded a little, and he smoothly reached into his pant pocket, pulling out a filled needle.

"Trust me, compliance is easier and less humiliating."

Grinding her back teeth, the silver haired half-elf stared at the human, then slowly, reluctantly, hopped up onto the table.

"Good girl." A second later his hand was on her shoulder, slamming her down onto the table top as the other locked around her throat. A few nurses that she hadn't noticed before trotted over to her, pinning her to the table despite the fact the she wasn't struggling.

Panic blossomed in Raine's stomach at the feeling of being restrained, the intimidation they were causing her making her squirm, her muscles tensing further, to a degree that was almost painful. The threat of that needle, which could do Lord-knows-what to her, wasn't exactly helping either.

Leaning over her, Dr. Griffin started what seemed like an ordinary physical exam, checking eyes and ears, skin, reflexes…everything, before working his way down her body then back up to her head.

"OK, take notes class," he gestured to a group of white clad young men and women "Typical subject: Female half-elf, human age – mid twenties. A mana scan will tell us her actual age, so we'll do that after the exam."

A few of the attendants murmured and nodded. Raine stayed completely still, knowing it would be unwise to move in such a precarious situation.

"Mixed blood percentage to determine degrees of race will also be ascertained during the mana scan. Subject seems to be in excellent health, minimal injuries-most likely caused by capture, will heal within 2 weeks. Muscle density is good, eyes bright, sinuses clear, reflexes…"

He reached up to her mouth and the exam took an unpleasant turn that wasn't entirely unexpected, and she found herself choking as long fingers were shoved into her mouth and down her throat, her shoulders pinned to the table, body arching as she gagged against the invasion.

"Reflexes seem excellent."

The fingers were drawn out of her throat into her mouth, prodding roughly at gums and teeth. "Judging by the teeth, bones are in excellent condition."

Raine coughed as he drew his fingers fully out of her mouth, her body shuddering against the previous violation, feeling like an animal for sale being assessed by a prospective new buyer. Everything was poked, prodded and examined externally, save for her 'reflexes' and she could only hope the doctor didn't plan on doing any invasive exams. Especially in front of a room full of strangers.

"Alright. Fetch the mana scanner."

Still shuddering, Raine rolled onto her side, having been released, coughing weakly and using the act as a cover for her assessment of the situation. Surreptitiously, she rolled her eyes up to look at the white curtain expecting to see a large piece of machinery that resembled a torture device being pulled out.

Instead however, a frail looking woman was led out, her eyes closed and stumbling blindly, bony hands extended to guide her.

Rolling his eyes, Griffin grabbed the woman by the white, sack-like clothing she was wearing and pulled her over to the table.

The woman was a half-elf, and by the slender, now ripped ears, like the black-haired boy, of more elf than human blood.

"This is our mana scanner." The physician gestured to the woman "If you'd like to roll over onto your back." He 'requested' of Raine, using that same patronising, nauseatingly fake tone of voice.

Barely holding back a snappy comment of just where _he _could roll to, she glared at him and turned over, ice-blue eyes locked onto dark green, unmoving despite the movement of her body.

"Commence." He commanded of the woman and she shuffled forward, bumping pitifully into the edge of the steel examination table.

Extending her hands so that they were above Raine's head she began to mumble to herself, words of ancient elvish cascading down into the younger half-elf's ears, soothing as a faint glow emitted from her hands, a silver light that descended and lay over her body like a protective barrier.

The woman's eyes flicked open and she stared down at her subject, her eyes filmed over with white - the mana scanning technique had been carried by her for so long that the exposure to the bright light of mana had blinded her.

Raine felt her stomach knot in disgust at the idea, pity for this woman overriding all other feelings…she was here, soothing her, despite the wrongs done to her and…

Pain blinded her. Bolts of mana stabbing into her as the light sunk into her body, and she felt more exposed and vulnerable that ever before.

Her clothing and skin had been stripped away, leaving her naked to this woman's perverse gaze, the centre of her being, her mana supply and soul exposed.

She screamed, pulsating, red mana that was stripping and searching and ripping her to shreds coursing through her veins and Raine could practically feel her own, natural, white mana being forced back as it struggled against this invader.

Eventually, that searing pain faded, the invasive mana withdrawing and the world gradually came back to her, in blurred shades of grey that sharpened as colour returned.

Distantly, she could hear talking.

"..young…..v..ry…y….g f..r………….lf….rou…ly….eq….bou….fif….ix…el….re….hu…n."

Hands slid under Raine's shoulders and as the world returned fully, she realised that she was being carried to a different room. She jerked in those hands, aware she was being separated from her younger brother and determined to get back to him. Her efforts seemed to be wasted though, for her bearers merely threw her to the floor and returned to the examination room.

Her initial thought was to examine a way to get back through to Genis, but one look at the door told her that it wasn't going to happen. There were no handles or controls on her side of the door and Raine resigned herself to waiting quietly, and running the information she had on this place through her mind in an attempt to find an escape.

It was a short while later when the woman with the baby, now devoid of the infant that could still be heard screaming in the other room joined her, but she merely sat where she was left, rocking back an forth slightly and it was clear that she was in shock from the loss of her baby. Raine was fairly willing to bet she'd never see the child again.

Screams pierced the walls and Raine flinched, recognising the voice as that of the teenage girl. Instead of her being dragged into the room she and the woman were in however, the guards carried her into a room branching off to the left.

The process was repeated four more times, screaming and then sorting: the young girl, taken in the same direction as the teenager, a man about the same age as Raine, taken to the right, the black haired young man and finally Genis.

And as Raine saw him standing there, in the clutches of those men, she suddenly understood the rocking woman.

For 11 years she had looked after him, her only family, her precious brother for whom she would give anything to protect. For the first time in her life that she could remember, she launched into a full panic, realising that they were about to be separated and they may never see each other again.

With a desperate cry of her brother's name, Raine launched herself towards the guards, determined to keep him safe from them above all else.

The men watched, half-amused, half-wary of the half-elven woman marching towards them, eerily cool and calm in a massive contrast to the scream she had uttered only moments ago.

Steadily, in measured steps, she strode towards them, stood and reached to kiss her brother's forehead in what seemed like a farewell gesture…

Before bursting into an explosion of movement, foot flying out to kick a man in the stomach, hands balled into fists as she turned to slam a clenched hand into another's face, freeing her brother.

There were hands on her arms and wrists, pulling her away, but she barely registered them, still fighting, her protective nature enflamed, driving her to struggle for _his _sake.

She didn't notice she was being dragged into a new room until she saw the door frame as she was pulled through it.

"Raine!" his voice stopped her dead. There was no fear or worry in that voice that seemed bizarrely deep for the little boy she remembered raising…but he wasn't a little boy anymore.

"Raine, I'll be fine, don't worry about me. Just don't get in trouble yourself, k?"

And with those parting words, the doors slammed shut.

She felt numb. Or rather, she didn't, she didn't feel anything, her emotions dragged away along with her brother. She had lost him…she had failed to protect him.

Slumping, Raine fell to the floor from those rough restraining hands and everything rushed by her, unnoticed. There was a dim sensation of pain in her right shoulder blade, a smell of singeing flesh, a thousand needle pricks in her wrist. She was stripped to her undergarments, she knew that much, but there was no shame, humiliation or outrage as she was undressed and ordered to change into grey rags…not even when a cold, metal collar was snapped shut around her neck or when she saw the identification number tattooed on her wrist.

Nothing.

Guided through long, winding corridors filled with cages and prisons, bars, wires, electric fences, a thousand and one other half-elven women, all thin, weak, beaten. It passed her by without grabbing her attention.

A hand on her shoulder stopped her, metal clinked by her ear and she was guided somewhere new, sat down and left.

In a dank cell, far beneath the surface of the earth, separated from all the people she loved, Raine slumped on the bed.

Alone.

* * *

Thanks for reading, please review. More reviews, more likely to update faster. 


	5. Saloth'Sar

A.N: Well hello there, ladies and gents and welcome to another chapter of Amazing Grace. 'Tis nice to see you all back. Just for some pre-reading safety checks, exits are in the form of the button in the top left corner of the screen or the little X in the top right. You don't want to go for these though, because the plane isn't crashing and is in fact, 50,000 feet off the ground i.e. you'll plummet to your death. i.e please keep reading because I'm getting a really good vibe about this fic. 

Once again I apologise for the delay in the posting of this fic. As a side note the numbers denote a..uh, side note, which will supply you with a little bit of info. The info will be found right at the bottom of the fic. There's only one by the way, but feel free to read should you feel the wish/need to.

Now, without further ado, your Captain wishes you a pleasant read.

Enjoy the fic.

* * *

Saloth'sar

Sunlight streaked into the sky in a firework display of colour at the herald of a new day. The magnificent effect was, however, somewhat lessened, Sheena thought, by the constant bellyaching of the red-headed ex-chosen standing behind her.

"Shheeennnaaaa! Why can't we stop already? We've been up since 3 o'clock this morning…I need my beauty sleep."

"For the last time Zelos. No and shut up!"

"But Sheena.."

"I'm not listening."

"But…"

"Zelos, shut up. See that rock over there?" The ninja pointed to a rock to their left. "Kuchinawa will be back once he's checked out the area which shouldn't be long now."

"This is taking ages! There's nothing here…c'mon, this is where the great tree is, no-one's gonna set up base here."

"We've _seen _something going on."

"Tourists."

"What? People aren't allowed to go near the Symphonia tree, you know that you moron!!"

"But…"

"Hush! There's Kuchinawa."

The aforementioned ninja was crawling over the ruins of the tower of Salvation, weaving quickly between crumbling lumps of rock etched with images of angels.

Within a few minutes he came face to face with Sheena and her companions, giving Zelos a cursory glance.

"The coast is clear for above ground, right across to the other side. Orochi is keeping watch so we should hurry to him."

"Alright." She turned to the four other members of Mizuho who had stopped behind her. "We've got a clear path across the area so we'll go across. Once we reach the other side we spread out along the circumference of the south-west side and keep watch. If you see anything, alert everyone else by signals so we can keep an eye on them together, ok?"

Murmurs of agreement ran around the party accompanied by nods.

"Let's get going then."

They travelled over the desolated ruins of the tower, walking beneath the great tree silently, save for Zelos occasional protests over that morning's awakening.

As they approached the arc of the region they were investigating, the group split up. Kuchinawa and one of the other Mizuhoans heading right, the other two splitting off and heading left; leaving Sheena and Zelos together to take the central point.

"So…what're we gonna do when we find there's nothing here and this has been a complete waist of time?"

"Shut up, Zelos! If there is someone down there, they might hear us if you don't shut up so do it or I'll make you far less of a man than you already are."

"Ooh, Sheena…you've got balls, my hunny."

"And you won't have for much longer if you don't stop that. Now quiet."

Despite the only (semi) joking warning, the red-head fell silent, following the ninja to the edge of the plateau.

There was nothing below the ledge.

"See?" he whispered "Nothing."

"Then why are you whispering?"

"…"

"Besides, there's nothing here. We have to travel to the sides slightly. You go left, I'll go right."

"Right. Right."

"No…you left, _me _right."

"I know Sheena I…" The look of bemusement that she gave him quietened him. "…I'll just go left."

"You do that."

Without another word she slunk off to the right, leaving a dumbfounded Zelos behind.

Shrugging, Zelos headed off to the left, diving for cover behind a wall as soon as he saw it, peeking over the top as he travelled along the length of it, gradually standing more and more upright as the wall became higher, almost obscuring everything from his view.

Finding a crack in the wall, just wide enough for him to keep an eye on things through, the red-head slid down beside it watching through the gap for any activity, resting on a rock behind as he stared blankly through it.

-----------------------

Zelos groaned, turning to lie on his left side, wishing the ground and rock wasn't so hard, wondering distantly why he was sleeping outside.

Pounding footsteps jerked him awake, making him realise exactly where he was and what he was supposed to be doing and he scrambled to his feet, blinking sleep out his eyes to look through the crack.

Soldiers in red tunics in differing shades of red marched in lines of 3, a young girl with slightly pointed ears sandwiched in the middle of them all with no chance of escape.

'_Dammnit! Kratos was right…they are kidnapping half-elves!!'_

He watched silently as the shackled girl was marched along. _'What for though? If you hate them that much…you'd kill them outright when you saw them…'_

Standing up slowly from his position by the crack in the wall, Zelos stood, bringing a small communications device out of his pocket, sending a message to Sheena.

Turning back to watch what was going on, he caught the end of the column of men, and edged along behind the wall, shrinking steadily to avoid being seen.

The troops were filing into a small chasm that was getting steadily narrower, tapering inwards and Zelos edged along further, cursing when he reached the end of the wall so that he could see further without being seen.

"What've you seen?"

"GAH!"

The cry came before Zelos could stop it as Sheena appeared behind him out of nowhere.

"Hey…Did you hear something?"

The voice came from below, gruff and questioning as soldiers turned to look at the plateau above them, to their right.

"Excellent. That's all we need." Sheena muttered, lying behind the wall beside Zelos, her hand over his mouth.

"Probably just the wind."

"How often does the wind sound like 'gah'?"

"Keep it moving!"

Sheena peeked out from the wall, watching as the two soldiers staring at their hiding place were called away by their commanding officer. The men shrugged and walked away, clipping the half-elf girl around the back of the head as she was marched past.

"That poor girl," Zelos murmured, a rare tone of sincerity and compassion in his voice. "There's gotta be a way we can free her."

"Forget it! We can't get caught."

"But.."

"SIR! Up there!"

Sheena and Zelos tensed, exchanging glances. One of the soldiers had heard their conversation and the pair quickly backed up to a taller part of the wall.

Too late.

Already two of the men had crawled up the slope and were standing in front of the former tethe'allans that were crouching on the floor and they quickly drew their weapons, intending to either capture or kill.

A third man, dressed in a copper tunic joined them a second later.

"You heard them plotting against us?"

"Yessir!"

"Kill them."

"They're human, sir."

The man shrugged "That's irrelevant. Anyone who helps, or plans to help a half-elf is as filthy as the damned creatures themselves. Kill them, they're of no use to the project."

"I really don't think that's going to happen."

The men turned quickly to the voice behind them.

"Kuchinawa!" Sheena exclaimed, jumping to her feet and drawing a card out, ready to attack the soldiers. Beside her, Zelos drew his sword in anticipation of a fight, glancing down at the men in the gully.

Most of the troops had already gone to…wherever it was that they were going, but the men taking up the rear, a group of about ten who were guarding the girl were left behind, staring up at the scene unfolding above them, too interested to pay much attention to their captive.

"Don't think you can beat us, traitors," the man in the copper clothing snarled, drawing Zelos' attention back to the predicament "We have 13 men, and you only have 3."

"7 actually." Sheena stated, as the four other members of the ninja clan materialised around them, weapons drawn.

"Still not enough, woman."

"Don't underestimate our strength…"

With a harsh cry, she threw herself forwards, slamming the card into the chest of the nearest guard. It burst into flame against his chest and the man fell back, crying out in pain as the commander stood and watched, amazed.

Sheena merely drew out another card as the men of _her _team tensed, falling into battle positions.

"Get the girl," Sheena whispered to Zelos.

And then she was leaping forwards again, a card in each hand as around her the other ninjas jumped down from the cliff into the midst of the troop below, blades flashing in and out of sight in an instant.

Zelos jumped with them, landing lightly on the floor and running straight into the centre of the brawl, searching for the violet haired half-elf. She had disappeared amidst the fighting men, but as the ex-chosen sliced his sword neatly across the chest of a soldier, knocking him back, he saw her, edging away from the battle, back the way she came.

He sprinted to her, grabbing her roughly by the arm and pulling her up onto the plateau, shouting that he was helping her.

The girl fought against him.

"Look! I'm helping you!" he cried, slamming his left hand into the face of a random soldier, tugging her to a slightly quieter area. Grabbing a small blade from his belt he worked it into the keyhole of the shackle, jiggling it until the cuffs snapped open.

The half-elf stared, dumb founded.

"You're freeing me?"

"There's no time for me to explain! Do you know where Iselia is?"

She nodded.

"Good. Run, go there and find someone called Lloyd Irving-Aurion or Colette Brunel…or hell, even Kratos Aurion!"

A look of recognition flashed across her face "Professor Aurion?"

"You know Kratos? Well go, find him. If I or the woman in purple don't catch up with you on the way then tell him what happened here…that we've been captured…and if one of the ninja guys gets away, get him to go with you or something."

"How do I…"

"No time. Go!"

He shoved her shoulder and then turned and ran back into the fray, hacking a man down even as two more piled on top of him and he realised that reinforcements had come for his enemies. They were going to be caught.

A high-pitched female scream cut the air and he turned to help Sheena when two men tackled him to the floor, pulling his arms behind his back and locking them in shackles.

"By the order of the leader of Saloth'sar, we arrest you for crimes against the human race."

Behind them, unseen, the purple haired half-elf turned and ran, heading north-west for Iselia.

----

"This is all your fault," Sheena stated for what had to be the hundredth time in the past hour.

She and Zelos sat in a damp cell, waiting for one of these 'Saloth'sarians' to return to do whatever it was they were going to do.

"So you keep saying, but I'm sure she got away."

"Well that makes it better for us."

"Look, she'll get to Iselia, get Lloyd and the rest of the gang and they'll storm in and save us, and then we'll go rescue Genis and Raine, wherever they are."

"Hmph."

"You're starting to sound like Kratos."

"Well at least that might mean I have his sense to not get caught."

"Like he did on Exire?"

"Oh, shut up…besides, remember what he told Lloyd about the soldiers."

"What?"

"They wore the name Saloth'sar on their clothing…"

"They're here then. Raine and the brat…"

"Seems like."

"Quiet there!"

One of the guards that had brought them to the cell earlier had returned, two other guards flanking him. Zelos and Sheena watched quietly as they approached and entered the cell.

"It has been decided that you two remain together during the day due to your human status, for now, however, you will be shown to the human prison quarters and will remain there for the rest of the day."

"Woohoo." Zelos muttered sarcastically.

"…I'd advise you not to take that attitude with us, given the lenience our courts have seen fit to apply to you, for the moment anyway."

The ex-chosen said nothing in response as he was pulled to his feet, the same being done to Sheena. They were led out of the cell silently, still shackled, Zelos being pulled right, Sheena being taken left.

"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!"

Zelos rolled his as he heard the accusation despite the fact that Sheena had already left the room. He on the other hand, was being pushed through his own door into a fenced compound, paved with concrete, the walls of the area red and crumbling, decorated with roots. A grey complex stood at the far end of the chamber, and by the looks of it, that was where he was being taken.

"So…" he began conversationally as he was marched to the building "What do you do here, huh?"

The guards didn't answer, merely pushed him forwards.

"Oh, c'mon guys, we're all human here. Can't we share some gossip?"

A heavy metal door was opened before him and he was pushed into a slate grey corridor and then led to the left into another room.

It was dull, grey, bland, concrete, just like the rest of the complex, but it had windows, at least. Cells adorned the wall to his right, separated only by more bars, not allowing the prisoners any form of privacy.

He was guided to one of the furthest cells, a bed in the far left corner, a sink in the right, a block of stone with a hole carved into it next to the basin.

"Wow, my own toilet. You guys are spoiling me."

A cell door being opened was his only response, his escorts blocking the way back so that he couldn't run and escape.

Given that he'd been relieved of everything that could be considered a weapon, including his white headband, for some reason, he didn't even consider it. Besides, not only was he unarmed, but he would have no idea where he was going to go or do.

Holding his head high and refusing to be thrown in the cell like some common thief, Zelos held his head high and strolled into his cell, turning back to watch the guards down his nose as the shut the door and walked away. It was only when he heard the outer door to the compound closing that he lowered his head and turned to examine his cell.

"If you're going to act like that you won't last long here."

The voice came from the last cell of the room, next to Zelos' cell and the aristocrat spun to face the owner of the voice. "They'll teach you some humility."

Zelos snorted "Doubt it. And I don't plan to be here long enough for that to happen, anyway."

"Planning to escape, huh?" the man in the other cell strode forward, stopping in front of the bars that separated him and the younger man, long fingers wrapping around black iron rods.

"Well d'uh."

"It won't happen."

"What makes you so sure of that?" Zelos asked, watching the man run a hand through grey streaked chestnut hair.

"I tried it too, but they caught me and beat me down…that's why I look like this." He gestured to the grey streaks in his hair, the weathered, aged skin on his hands and face. "Their punishment stripped me of my strength…my youth."

"Look, no offence, but sixty years old is not youthful…you're supposed to look like that."

The old man smiled "Well that's the thing you see…I'm only 37."

The red-head took a step back from the older man. "No way."

"Way. I'm only….a decade older than you, yes? Good looking young man like you should be careful with his looks…I'd be careful if I were you."

Zelos said nothing but thought of Sheena instead, that she could be in serious danger because of him. Like Raine, her independent, strong-willed, defiant nature was likely to get her into trouble…even if she were sensible about to behave. Zelos knew Sheena, and the ninja wouldn't put up with any sort of abuse for long. Gods help her…and it was because of _him _that she was here.

Sitting down on the lumpy bed, he turned to the man. Might as well try and get some information while he was here, whether a rescue was on the way or not.

"What's your name?" he asked the man who had retreated to his own bed and was now watching Zelos with hawkish eyes. He hesitated, seeming to be testing whether he could trust the younger man or not.

"Caleb." He answered eventually.

"Zelos," the ex-chosen replied in introduction "…so…what do you know about this place?"

"Very little. I know that we're under the great tree and that they call this little base of theirs 'Flaw' and it is what they call an IHC, an Impure Holding Centre…a concentration camp for half-elves.

"The humans that run this place call their organisation Saloth'sar and they are the Saloth'sarians. What the name means, I don't know. It is not a Mercian 1) word."

"I know what it means," Zelos murmured, his Angelic Language lessons from his childhood rushing back to him and he grimaced slightly at the meaning, knowing what it meant for the prisoners of this camp.

"You know? What does it mean…I am curious. They don't even speak Mercian here, the guards, when speaking to each other at least, have their own language. I believe they call it Lothloren."

"…it doesn't matter what the name means right now. I'll tell you that the name of their language means 'Pure tongue'…it's a dialect of the angelic language."

"Then 'loth' from Saloth means…"

"Pure. But this doesn't matter right now…and nor does how I know this stuff," Zelos added, seeing Caleb open his mouth to ask the question "…So anyway, these people are like the reverse of the Desians who inhabited Sylvarant."

"Exactly."

"…what do they do though? I mean, why do they capture half-elves and not kill them outright."

"That…I'm not sure of. All prisoners, including human like you and I who have been caught for aiding a half-elf are set to work as slaves. The jobs are allotted according to intelligence or sometime blood. Half-elves with more human blood than elven get easier jobs…but I hear that the smartest prisoners are set to work on a scientific project, a giant weapon of some sort."

"But why?"

Caleb shrugged, brown and grey hair falling from his shoulders at the movement.

"I've heard they have an almost inexhaustible supply of mana too."

"Well yeah, we're right underneath the mana tree. They can draw the purest mana straight from the source."

Shaking his head, the older man lay on his side, making himself more comfortable on the worn mattress. "No, they have to have a particular source of man to power the project, or else it won't work."

"How d'you know this stuff?"

"Slaves gossip…I just hope that some of the rumours about the project aren't true…I pray that the power source is not what they say it is."

"And that is?"

"Some poor half-elf's life."

* * *

1) Mercian is the language that I (yes, me, the author of this fic, the almighty God who makes the rules of this) have decided the ToS characters speak. Anyone who studies English Language (as I do) will know that Mercian is a very old dialect of English which developed into standard (British) English. And I'm British, hence the reason I used it. In this fic, Mercian is essentially just another name for English. And if you've dropped out of the fic to read this note, I apologise for digressing. You may now return to the fic :) 

So there you have it, another chapter done. If the last line has confused you or just seems really weird and random or whatever, the subject does have an important part later on in the fic, so it is relevant. There may be some more hints as to what this means/ is in the next few chapters.

You may or may not have noticed by now that the chapters follow a pattern. That is: Raine/Genis chapters, then another pair, Raine/Genis, other pair. So this chapter should have been a Sheena/Zelos fic. But I rarely write about just Zelos, so I thought I'd dedicate this to him.

Anyhoo, please, please (if you've some how got here without being bored to tears by my rambling) review. Any question will be answered, any comments will be appreciated.


	6. Familiar

A.N: OK, first off, I'd like to apologise for the length of time its taken to get this chapter up, but I've been suffering with writer's block for this fic. I'll try not ot let it happen again. Secondly, thanks to everyone who reviewed.

Please enjoy the chapter:

* * *

Familiar

It was still battleship grey, the walls, the ceiling, the bed sheets, the clothes. The only things in the tiny cell that were a different shade were the black iron railings and the darker grey patches of mould that dotted the room.

Raine rolled over onto her right side, staring through the almost darkness into the aisle that ran between the rows of cells, her eyes straining to see. What she was looking for she didn't quite know. It was night time, or, at least, what she assumed was night time. In actually it was probably just the time that they told them to sleep, just as they told them when to eat, exercise and work.

Silence hung heavily in the long room, the inhabitants resting quietly, occasionally letting out snores or snorts in their sleep but even those sounds were few and far between, as if the treatment the captives received had broken even their sleeping habits.

Not Raine's though. Not yet.

'_Not ever. I'll be damned if I ever give into these human sons of bitches'_

Anger. It was the only emotion she had felt since sensation had returned to her after the separation from Genis. Even the thought of her little brother on his own wasn't softening her now and with a fresh stab of anger over being torn from him, she threw back the sheets and began to pace.

Her bare feet hit cold cement as she walked in circles, thick anger roiling in her stomach. There wasn't anything she could do to relieve it either.

Back home she would've gone for a walk, done some long overdue training or just sat down and written rubbish on a piece of paper, anything to alleviate the feeling. Here, there was nothing to do and eventually she found herself kicking the slop bucket that sat in the corner furthest from her bed, the act's noise amplified by the silence, waking the other prisoners up.

Murmurs filled the dark chamber, sleep-hazed confusion or irritation at being woken, but she didn't care and grabbed the black bars, forcing her hands against them until the already pale skin went completely white.

Down the hall a metal door slowly opened and slammed shut, bright lights flickering on and blinding everyone in the room, waking those few who had miraculously managed to sleep through the noise.

"What's going on in here?" The voice was rough with the rude awakening, clearly irritated like the half-elves at the few hours of slumber being broken.

"Come on! Which of you is making a nuisance of your pathetic selves more than usual?"

Every woman in the room stepped away from the bars of her cell except Raine. The professor hung onto the metal bars, staring angrily at the man as he approached her, drawing a beating stick from the back of his uniform.

The door was opened slowly, the guard slipping inside and shutting it firmly behind him. Raine stood her ground as he stalked towards her, fingers wrapped tightly around the wooden rod, eyes darkening in anger at her defiant stance.

"Unless you wanna be beaten, I'd suggest you behave and lie down on the bed like the obedient little creature you are."

Raine stepped away from the bars, two steps back, before turning and staring at him, azure eyes fixed onto his, ignoring the warning.

He raised the baton, letting it fall into his left palm in another warning, the sound of wood striking flesh solid and loud in the stale air.

"Not playing by the rules, huh? Well, no one can say I didn't warn you."

He lunged forwards, intending to grab her bare arm, but she trotted backwards neatly, avoiding the snatching motion, a mocking smile twisting her lips.

"Too fast for you?"

"You little…"

"Hmm? Little what?"

The soldier didn't answer but lunged for her again, and as before, she trotted neatly backwards, glancing through the bars to see the other half-elves crowded against the front of the cells, curiosity piqued by the disruptive new arrival.

"You really think you're gonna outrun me in here, woman?"

"No…but I think I can get the message across that you're not going to beat me down like you have everyone else here."

"Heh…we'll see about that."

He took a few long strides towards her, expecting her to back up and frowning when she didn't. Raine smirked. There may not have been a way out for her here, but gods she was going to have fun winding these bastards up. It was the least she could do for her race, she thought, catching the sunken eyes of the woman across the way.

The guard suddenly took the opportunity to strike as his target drew her attention away from him for a second, and he wrapped a large hand around her throat, using the grip to force her down onto the bed and using his weight to pin her there.

"You're new here, girl," he muttered through gritted teeth "but it's no excuse…an animal like you should know its place instantly. Now since it hasn't sunk in yet, let me lay it out for you.

"It doesn't matter what you did, or who you were before you got here. I don't care what your name was, 'cos now you're #1017, you're job….if you had one, is irrelevant and your personality will be broken and reset into what we want it to be within a few weeks."

He pushed himself up and off her, standing by the side of the cot where she now lay "You're just an animal here…get used to it."

She glared, starting to rise from the bed.

"Nuh-uh. Behave now. Night night."

With a harsh grin, he raised the baton over his head, swinging it downwards towards her head.

Raine heard the crack as the truncheon slammed into her skull, felt bone crack under the blow and blood run, felt the pain rushing through her system.

As her vision greyed sadistic elation faded, replaced with a misery that could consume.

--

Bright light snapped into existence, bleaching grey walls of colour and Raine groaned, turning, wincing at the headache that was fogging her mind. Too bad it wasn't her senses that were being dulled. In fact, the splitting pain in her head only seemed to make light and sound that much more unbearable.

"Up! All of you get up and out!"

Raine cracked an eye open, instantly regretting it as unnatural light flooded in, making it snap shut again. Cautiously, she tried again, finding that the light wasn't so oppressive this time and that she could focus on the grey clad figures filing out of their cells, movements stilted and robotic.

One of them, who moved with a slight fluidity, stood outside her cell, calling to her quietly.

"Hey, get up."

The professor groaned quietly, a hand moving up to cradle the epicentre of the headache, her fingers running into blood crusted hair.

"If you don't want to get into trouble, get up."

She slowly pushed herself up from the hard mattress, mind slowly gathering together memories of last night.

'_Oh Gods, I've made this ten times worse for myself…'_

"Look, I can't wait for you much longer."

Raine finally looked up to the owner of the voice. She was younger than Raine, perhaps only by a few years or so, slim and pretty. It seemed that she hadn't had any less of a hard time here, though, for her face was scarred along her cheeks, some of them being relatively recent injuries.

Sliding off the bed, the teacher staggered to the door, giving it a gentle push. To her surprise it swung open easily and the half-elf waiting by the bars trotted over to her, laying a steadying hand on her shoulder.

"I'm #0998. Also known as Siofra to everyone here." She whispered "And you are?"

"Raine." The professor answered through gritted teeth as Siofra started to guide her from the room.

"You caused quite a stir last night."

"I'm not surprised…"

"But…"

"But what?"

"While it gives the girls who've been here a long time hope to see someone who's willing to stand up to the guards…well, they tend to get crushed pretty quickly."

"Is that advice to settle down and behave?"

"Yes. For your sake."

Raine shook her head, grimacing at the wave of nausea it caused. "I'm not backing down just to satisfy these…." She hesitated, as if unsure about her word choice "…people."

"Hmph. That's what everyone with half a gram of backbone says when they get here."

"Maybe so, but I'm not just anyone."

Siofra remained silent as she steered Raine through the door at the end of the room and down a narrow corridor, into a mess hall where all the female half-elves had to congregate to eat.

Raine gasped.

There were hundreds of them. The hall was completely packed out with half-elven females, from eight year old girls to elderly woman who hunched over in the corner, worn down by age and ill-treatment.

They swarmed in all directions, some lining up quietly to get their meals, others jostling to get to friends and relatives, fighting against a sea of other women and girls who were all trying to do the same thing.

Raine had had a feeling that there would be a good amount of half-elves here, considering the amount that had been taken from Exire alone…but she hadn't imagined there were so many people like her in the world, so many of half blood. And this was just the females.

If there were as many on the male side of the facility, there could be well over 2000 half-elves here.

"Amazing isn't?" Siofra was speaking "I didn't realise there were so many of us until I got here, either….this isn't even the entire population. There could be hundreds more in the world, hiding out there somewhere."

"Yes…I imagine there are. It is not possible for every Desian and every Renegade to have been wiped out or captured…and they made up a good part of the race."

"Renegades?"

Raine smiled and shook her head, wishing she hadn't when that nausea returned.

"Just an organisation. They don't exist anymore anyway."

"Right…"

"I didn't think there were this many women in the corridor we're 'housed' in."

"There aren't." Siofra pulled Raine to the side, into a queue for what was presumably breakfast "Our section is for women aged 21 to 35, chronologically and I know that there are at least eight or nine more rooms that hold that category."

"How many in each room?"

"Twenty, twenty-five. Most of us have to share a cell too…you're quite lucky to have one to yourself. For now, anyway."

"Hmmm." The professor stared around the room, taking in the sight of so many people crowded into this small area. Siofra led her along the queue silently, apparently understanding how Raine needed to take this in.

She wasn't aware how long she was staring out at the moving mass of half-elves, but she found her sleeve being tugged and she was presented with a bowl filled with…well, Raine wasn't one to use such a term but…crap, basically. At the very best, it was very thick, lumpy and cold gruel which looked like it could clog up the arteries like tar.

"Gross, huh? And yeah, we have to eat it; it's all we've got for the next twelve hours."

Siofra grimaced at her before flinching her head towards the far side of the room, beckoning Raine to follow.

She did, following the unruly fuchsia pink hair that Siofra sported, the easiest thing to see in a crowd of grey uniforms and greasy, dull heads.

Pushing her way through a group of women that had decided to stand around pointlessly, she saw Siofra chatting to a couple of women and girls.

"Hey, Raine! Get over here."

Muttering an apology to the group she had just squeezed through she joined the pink-haired girl.

"These are my friends," she announced proudly "I'll let them introduce themselves. I can't be bothered, there are too many…I'm just so popular, you know?"

The young woman rolled her eyes exaggeratedly at Raine, motioning for her friends to move up and make space for the new arrival.

"Everyone, this is Raine."

Greetings were murmured as a few heads turned to look at her, nods being sent in her direction which she returned in turn, feeling herself relax around these people. Everyone here was in the same position, was the same as her and even if they had only been gathered to be slaves, she was sure that they could be roused into being something more.

With a smile starting to tug at her lips, Raine lifted a spoonful of gruel to her mouth, thinking that maybe this place wouldn't be as bad as she thought.

--

It_wa_sn't as bad as she thought. It was worse. Shortly after Siofra had introduced her to her friends, a bell had rang and Raine had watched with growing anxiety as every half-elf in the room had fallen silent and jumped to their feet, standing to attention in long, organised rows.

Guards had filed in, a party of near two hundred, and without a whisper of argument, the captives had marched out, splitting off into different directions.

Raine, of course, hadn't known what she was supposed to do or where to go and had merely jumped behind Siofra, feeling an instinct to cling to something even vaguely familiar sink in. She had followed Siofra out of the room but had been grabbed by one the guards on the door and held behind, watching as the pink haired woman disappeared down the corridor, a pair of remorseful violet staring at her as she walked away.

Raine had been taken to a small room filled with desks and chairs and ordered to sit the easiest exam she had done since she was about sixteen.

Now, she was waiting in an even smaller room, sitting on a wooden bench, though she wasn't quite sure what she was waiting for.

It was pretty much all she done since getting here though, wasn't it? Waiting in various small rooms, not knowing what was going to happen next.

She could hear voices approaching though, male, low, the words they were speaking muffled by the walls of the room.

Eventually, the door to the cupboard-like room was opened and a pair of soldiers shuffled inside.

"Congratulations #1017. Seems that you've got one of the best job assignments in this place."

"I'm thrilled." Raine replied, not bothering to look at the two men.

"Humph. Well, anyway, you're going up to the lab."

They walked to her side, flanking her and without a word, Raine stood and walked from the room, following the two men that walked slightly ahead of her now.

Blank, grey walls blended into each other as she walked to her destination, broken only by white doors or dark corridors heading off elsewhere, until they finally reached an elevator.

She was shoved inside, the doors pulled shut on her and then sent up on her own.

Raine glanced around the new room as it came into sight above her head. Small, grey…now didn't this seem familiar? Right down to the pair of double doors embedded in the wall facing the elevators gates. Cautiously, she pulled the gates aside, stepping out onto cold concrete.

There were no cameras in here, as there were in other rooms, no doubt hooked up to a projector somewhere and the only sounds reaching her ears were those of her guards voices.

With no other alternative, Raine stepped towards the double doors, grabbing a silvered handle and pulling one open before stepping inside.

It was white. Glass and metal. Clinical. Clean. A lab.

She had been greeted with a glass wall, chrome and glass door set in the middle of the pane for entrance to the rooms beyond.

A long corridor ran straight ahead from the door in front of her, smaller ones branching off to various areas of the labs, sectioning small rooms off.

Work stations were set up in each of the rooms, a handful of half-elves in tattered looking white lab coats leaning over them or standing back and taking down notes.

Raine pulled the door open, stepping through to the main corridor, feeling conspicuous in the pristine white surroundings.

Sounds of machines whirred around the hall, voices carrying, the smell of chlorine hanging faintly in the air.

The sound of a fist rapping on glass snatched her attention and Raine turned to the noise. A half-elf inside on of the booths was stepping out cautiously, beckoning her.

"You're new to the labs, right?"

Raine nodded.

"Follow the main corridor right to the end and go straight in. They've just got a new load of scientists in and you _really_don't want to be late for the briefing." He pulled away to walk back into his cubicle, his colleagues watching him and the newcomer.

"Oh," he added as an after thought "Don't tell them I told you where to go…they don't like us talking when we should be working."

With that, he pulled himself fully back into the room, the glass door closing with a brush of plastic on plastic and Raine nodded to him again, in thanks, before walking down the rest of the corridor.

The room she was heading for wasn't all that far away, as it turned out, and it seemed this outer area was probably lower level research.

Raine pushed through the doors into the lab.

"Ah, I late arrival, I see."

The voice greeted her instantly, drawing attention to her tardiness as the group turned to look at her.

"No matter, you haven't missed the main event. Join the back of the group and listen up.

"Now, as I was saying, you will all be stationed doing different jobs in this lab, some of you doing research, some of you doing practical development, testing or manufacture of items for your project. Ultimately, we're all working together on the same thing, just doing different bits.

What will happen now is I will call your number and you will go to the assigned area I tell you to, where you will meet your team for the project."

A murmur ran around the small group of half-elves gathered in front of the speaker, anxious at the idea of being split up.

"#1010 – manufacture, down to the left

#1012 – development of techniques

#1009 – testing of techniques

#1017…"

Raine felt her head jerk up at the number, hating that she responded to the number already.

The speaker had fallen silent.

"Where is #1017?"

She pushed through the others that were standing in front of her.

"Oh my dear, I'm quite impressed…"

'_Dear? What on earth is doing being…he's a half-elf?!'_

The speaker, she found, was a middle aged man, his long dark haired tied back into a braid, pointed ears protruding from tufts of hair which tried to cover them.

"You're to work on the highest level of research. Actually, you're the second one today…I wonder if you know the young man we've just sent up."

"Why do you think that?"

He smiled kindly "You'll see. Everyone, get to your areas quickly before the guards get up here. You," he looked at Raine "Miss…?"

"Sage. Raine Sage."

"Come with me Miss Sage."

He trotted off further up the walkway quickly, towards a staircase.

"What project is this exactly?"

"…we've never been given a specific project as such. Or at least, we've never been told what our overall goal is."

"So how do you work this project?"

"They give us specific areas to concentrate on. I suppose when we reach the overall objective we'll find out."

"So you just blindly follow orders? They could be making us do anything!"

"There isn't much of a choice in case you haven't realised…not if you want to live, anyway. A few of us have found out in the past, what this ultimate goal was, and refused to work towards it.

They were tortured and killed a few days after."

"Surely that's a sign that we shouldn't be doing it then? That we should resist."

"Perhaps. However, many are too scared to do that and besides…there is a good percentage of the half-elf population working here. If we all resist, most of our race gets wiped out."

"As long as there are humans and elves who'll interbreed there will always be half-elves."

"True, but do we really want to rely on our oppressors to continue our race? None of them want anything to do with us…all the elves care about is hiding away in their forest and keeping themselves pure and as for the humans…well, they all hate us."

"Most," Raine corrected, casting her thoughts back to her friends, the last time she saw everyone together… "Most hate us."

"You know any humans who don't?"

"Yes, I do."

"…then you are very fortunate …may I ask how many?"

"…seven."

"Considering most human attitudes, that's a fair number. They're…friends of yours?"

Raine nodded.

"Hmm. You're very fortunate indeed."

"…yes, I suppose so."

"I hope I haven't spawned any doubts there."

"What? No, no…I was just thinking about…them."

'_Or rather HIM'_

"I see. Miss Sage, I don't mean to be the voice of doom but don't."

"Thinking about my friends may be the only thing to keep me going in here."

"Most of the prisoners find that thinking about friends they'll never see again cripples them."

"I imagine it would."

"You're not the type to give in, I see. That's good; it'll serve you well here."

The half-elf pulled himself up the last few steps of the towering staircase, Raine right behind him as he walked to another pair of double doors. A small mana panel set in the wall glowed softly as he approached and he lay his palm on it before tapping in a number.

"This is the lab that you'll work in. In the morning you'll all come in together so don't worry about getting a code etc. It'll all be unlocked for you before you get here each morning."

Hydraulics hissed behind the doors, metal clicking and rattling as metal bolts were drawn back.

"Go on."

With an uncertain look at the man, Raine stepped forward, placing her hand on the cool metal of the door and giving it a heavy push. It grated against the floor, moving inwards slowly and she only managed to push it open wide enough to slip inside. As soon as she was in she let go, watching as it ominously swung shut before she turned to look at the lab.

Half-elves dressed in white coats strode about the lab in every direction carrying clip boards, others hunched over desks and scribbling frantically, others checking over machinery and calculations. It hummed with life and activity, yet there was an overshadowing feeling of fear and darkness. It was etched onto the faces of those who scurried past her, barely noticing her existence.

The door behind her hissed open and closed again and she found the man from before joining her.

"Come along now, meet the team and we'll get you into your lab."

He led her through a maze of machinery, weaving through people who crowded the lab, into a room at the back where a group of people were standing.

"oh…our newest member…I'll let you meet her before we continue. Wouldn't want…" the woman speaking glanced down at her notes "#1017 to feel left out now, would we?"

The group turned around to face her, and Raine straightened her back under the scrutiny, raising her head as…

"Raine!"

The voice was male; coming from the front of the group and so familiar and then Genis was pushing his way through the other half-elves and running to meet her.

"Genis…you're safe!"

He kept running until her almost collided with her, stopping just in front of her.

"Yeah, I'm fine…are you ok?"

She nodded.

"Cool…uhh…I think we have to…" he hitched a thumb in the direction of the watching group.

"We'll be showing you to your stations now anyway…"#1017 and #1018, you two come with me."

Genis trotted after the woman, beckoning for Raine to follow.

"Now you two will be researching the relationship between mana signatures and genetic variation among…"

Raine's thoughts wandered as she walked by her brother's side, her eyes travelling over towering machines and computers, soft lights flickering as they carried out their tasks. The area of the room they were heading to was quiet, confined.

A large machine stood near the back wall as they approached a workstation, its cables leading to a tank hidden inside the wall. A small glass window was set into the wall, blue and lavender light spilling from it, colouring the white walls of the room.

Raine frowned. Something about that light was so familiar.

"So, I'll let you get started."

The woman who had been explaining…something, turned and walked away, leaving Raine and Genis to stand alone together in the lab, clueless.

Genis watched until she was out of sight before throwing himself at Raine, his arms wrapping around her in an overzealous hug.

Smiling, she returned the embrace, appreciating the love of her brother. The attention of someone who was familiar in this place of fear and slavery.

* * *

Ok, so I hope it was ok. Actually, I hope it was great. As always, please review. Next chapter should be up within a couple of weeks. 


	7. Dawn of Hope

A.N: Ok, the usual message here: Thanks for reviews and sorry for the length of time it's taken to get this chapter written and posted. Took 15 days. I timed it.

Anyway, hope that you enjoy the chapter.

* * *

Dawn of Hope

Restless thoughts flittered around in Kratos' mind as he sat on a boulder in the depths of the forest staring at the distant horizon. He had left the cottage a few hours ago and merely wandered slowly through the woods, Noishe at his side due to Lloyd and the creatures insistence. He wouldn't admit it, but he was glad for the 'dog's' company, the creature offered a sentient ear and wouldn't judge. Or answer back, for that matter.

After those few hours spent strolling he had found himself in this clearing at the edge of a cliff face deep within the Iselia forest that had combined with the Gaorrachia forest, forming a labyrinth of plant life. But this area was beautiful, the cliff offering a view of the forest on lower levels, mountain ranges stretching into the distance, a shimmer of blue sea peeking sheepishly through a gap in the mountains.

It was exactly like the areas he had explored when he was a child. Untouched by human, elven or half-elven hands. Even elves, who were supposed to be at one with nature and mould to it and not the other way around, were guilty of clearing small areas of forest for their own purposes and being vegan was something that Kratos found too small to brag about. Hell, Yuan was a vegan having adopted the lifestyle of his elven mother. Though, he did a good show of not being vegan. His gauntlets and greaves made out of leather? Hardly.

Kratos shook his head forcefully. This was exactly the kind of thing that would happen when left alone to wander aimlessly. A trait he had noticed that Lloyd had inherited from him and one that he wasn't too proud to have passed onto his child.

Thinking of Yuan though…when had he last seen his old friend? Not for a couple of months now, surely and every time Kratos contacted the Renegades with a message that he need to see Yuan, he had been coolly told that the leader was too busy and would try and schedule a session for him.

Kratos had scoffed at that. He knew Yuan all too well and if the half-elf could get out of doing work he really didn't want to, he would find a way. His oldest friend wanting to see him had been an excuse he had used many times, even when they were part of Cruxis and there was no way he would just give up on that.

The thought actually had created doubts in Kratos' mind as to whether something had happened to Yuan but then, the blue –haired half-elf wasn't the sort to get in trouble. Then again, he also wasn't as anti-social as he seemed.

Noishe suddenly yawned and stood, pacing to the front of the boulder that Kratos sat on, resting his head on the new professor's thigh. Absently, the human scratched his companion behind the ears, his thought direction changed back to its favourite topic. Raine and Genis.

The group had received no word of breakthroughs in regards to rescuing them and he was starting to get uncomfortable with the lack of activity. Unusual for him certainly but…this was his fault. Genis and Raine had been relatively defenceless against any enemies, both out of practice of using their weapons. Genis had been too busy studying to even contemplate learning to use a non-magical form of fighting and Raine well…she had held her own pretty well, but she couldn't be expected to hold off more than a couple of enemies herself. So it had come down to it that Kratos should have kept a closer eye out for danger, should have checked the perimeter of Exire, flown over and checked that there was no way they could've been caught.

But he didn't and so the half-elves were captured and it was his fault. He had made a mistake that could cost the lives of two people he cared about once again. He was a hypocrite, telling Lloyd not to make a mistake like that or to learn from his mistakes but never doing it himself.

He hoped that the two half-elves had enough sense to show some level of submission to the soldiers that had captured them. It was their best chance of survival until they could be rescued. Genis would have no problem with that, he was quiet and submissive by nature. Raine on the other hand…strong-willed, intelligent and quite often confrontational…she would have trouble swallowing her pride to bow to her oppressors and it might just get her killed.

On the flip side, if she did bow to them, she wouldn't be the same person coming out as going in. She would hate herself for not standing up for her beliefs and race. That in itself could easily destroy a woman like Raine. Just like it almost did Anna.

Kratos' late lover and the half-elven professor were not entirely dissimilar, although Anna had been far more carefree and, with all respect, not as intelligent as the silver haired healer. Raine lacked that ability to look on the bright side but she was smart, beautiful, strong, charismatic and she had a far more adult charm than Anna's girlish qualities.

Kratos sighed, looking back into the forest at the way he had come. It was just like him to always go and fall for women that would easily fight back and reject him, just to prove that they weren't some love-sick schoolgirl. Anna and Raine, both women you would have to work at to get them to accept you. Admittedly, that was part of the attraction.

The seraph wasn't vain or self-obsessed, nor was he particularly arrogant when it came down to it, merely self-assured, but he knew the effect he had on people. Women wanted to be with him, most men wanted to be like him, to have that confidence, the aura that gained respect, the ability to fight, the strength, the looks, the voice. Everything that he outwardly appeared.

He could have anyone he wanted. Literally. Even males who were known for their homophobia or being a ladies men could fall to him if he wanted them to and they would all fall to him so easily. Except those two. Anna and Raine the only women to appear to be able to resist his supposed charm and they were the only ones worth having.

However, the were both gone; Anna for ever, by his hand and Raine put in a situation where she could wind up dead. At the very least, tortured and broken.

His fault.

It made him question why he was on this earth at all, why he hadn't found a way to save Derris-Kharlan and free it, thus sending him back out into space and not stayed on earth just because his son asked him to. Or pleaded, as was more accurate.

Kratos breathed out slowly and slid off the rock, grunting in pain when his left foot hit the floor sending shockwaves up his leg, causing the wound at his hip to twinge. Hissing slightly he pushed himself away from the boulder, transferring his weight onto his right leg his left hand clasped over the top of the wound that stretched from stomach to groin.

Noishe lifted himself off the ground to aid his human companion, letting the man lean against him lightly as he recovered from the pain and he gratefully patted the creature's back.

When he had recovered enough to move Kratos pulled away from Noishe, slowly walking back to the forest, wandering through the patches of light and dark that the trees created..

His thoughts started to churn again as he walked, the idea that he should have left five years ago playing through his head again. All he ever managed to do was hurt the people he cared about.

Perhaps when Raine and Genis were back he should leave, find some secluded area of the world where he could live in obscurity, forgotten by the earth and its creatures until he finally passed away. After he had helped rescue Raine and Genis…_if_he could help of course. Wounded as he was he wouldn't be able to hold his own in a fight for long and Lloyd was adamant that Kratos wouldn't leave his home to do any form of work, half-elf rescue related or not, until the wound was largely healed and _he _was satisfied with that.

The only thing he could currently do was offer guidance to Lloyd and the remainders of the group. His son especially seemed to be pleased with it for once, but Kratos was starting to doubt how much it was really worth, if it actually did any good.

He shook his head again as he walked, startling a nearby bird into fluttering from its perch in a cloud of feathers.

It wasn't like him to doubt himself, especially on matters such as strategic planning and advice etc. but Raine's kidnapping and his part in it had thrown him from his usual self-assured state of mind. As soon as he could fight again and actually _do_something, train and work off the excess energy his thoughts would be clearer. Probably. Inactivity grated terribly on his nerves.

--

It was at least another hour before he found the path over the river that led back to Lloyd's house.

The young swordsman had built his modest cottage after returning from the boat trip around the world he had always dreamed of going on. Kratos had accompanied him for some of the journey, checking up on him and offering company from time to time, usually whilst flying alongside the boat.

Now that the dream had been lived, he still kept the boat at the mouth of the river and twice a year would sail to either Palmacosta or Sybak, whichever coastal city Kratos happened to be staying near at the time. The constant swapping of locations meant the Kratos now owned a house on the outskirts of each city, with him currently residing in Sybak.

Consequently, Lloyd now lived on an entirely different continent, hence the sailing and his house was just a few miles from Dirk's. The young man loved the forest that he had grown up in so much that he couldn't bear to leave it and so had built his new home in it. It was a good thing that he liked sailing or flying so much, or else he would've never seen his biological father. With the angel working as a professor, he had little time to travel over the world to see his son.

"Hey Dad!" the greeting seemed to be coming from a bunch of trees but as Kratos brushed the branches aside to enter the house's clearing he found his son sitting atop the gabled roof.

"Lloyd," he greeted in turn before adding "ah…what exactly are you doing up there?"

"Well I was fixing that leak y'know? But I'm done now and the view's pretty cool from up here so.." he shrugged as he trailed off.

Kratos simply nodded.

"You were a long time. D'you get lost?" he asked, only half jokingly.

A smirk pulled at Kratos' lips as he regarded his child "No, it merely took some time to clear my head. That aside, I would have Noishe to guide me if I did. He knows the way."

"Luckily." The young swordsman stood up, wobbling slightly before he pulled his wings out and glided to the ground.

"We should really go for a fly sometime," the boy stated as he landed, folding the bird-like wings into his back "After we get Genis and the professor back, of course."

"Yes, but I'm going to have to return to work straight after we get them back. The academy can only put my classes on hold for so long before I have to restart the course again next year."

Lloyd rolled his eyes, sunlight catching the now red-brown colours of the iris that were identical to his father's. Since Lloyd had turned 20 his eyes had darkened, changing from smooth chocolate to the intriguing auburn-like hue that his father's eyes held. Apparently, all males of the Aurion line gained that eye colour once they reached 20 or so. Or so Kratos had told him.

"You're always working." Lloyd complained, patting Noishe on the shoulder as the animal went to lie down, before turning to go back inside the house. Kratos followed slowly.

"That's because if I don't have a job, I don't get money and I don't survive."

"You're an angel of Cruxis!"

"Ex," Kratos corrected "Besides Cruxis provided me with an occupation and accommodation."

"..That's a good point. Before you got a job and house you were a bum!"

It was Kratos' turn to roll his eyes.

"What? You were."

"I hope you haven't expressed that opinion to anyone else," Kratos stated, sliding into a chair, his eyes fixed on the retreating figure of Lloyd as he disappeared into the kitchen.

"Not to anyone who matters."

"Oh Gods I don't like the sound of that."

He heard a snigger coming from the kitchen and closed his eyes, groaning as he sank back into the plush cushions of the chair, moving into a position that didn't stretch the wound quite so much.

"Wow, I wish I could get a picture of that." Lloyd commented, walking back into the room, a glass of water in each hand. Kratos cracked an eye open, regarding Lloyd with a mixture of amusement and irritation.

The younger Aurion shrugged, holding out one of the glasses to the seraph who took it gratefully, sipping from it and letting the cool liquid slide down his throat. He rested the bottom of the glass against his stomach, feeling its coldness creeping through his shirt chilling the skin below and making the itchiness of the healing injury a little more bearable.

A knock on the door startled the two men, the noise quiet; as if the person knocking wasn't sure they should be doing it. The following knock was quieter, weaker…hesitant and Lloyd shot a confused look at his father before getting up to answer the door.

Kratos looked to the front door as Lloyd opened it, his son blocking his view of the person at the door.

"I'm…looking…for Lloyd Irving or…Kratos Aurion."

The words were weak and quiet, forced through harsh panting breaths.

"Dad…can you hey!"

There was a soft thud and then Lloyd was stumbling backwards, a person pressed against his chest, Lloyd's hands on the person's arms, trying to hold them off.

Kratos pulled himself up, to get a better view of what was going on, finding that Lloyd was holding a slim purple haired girl.

"Some help would be good, dad."

The seraph stepped in front of his son, gently grabbing the unconscious girl's shoulders and pulling her back from Lloyd, taking all her weight on his arms. He made a quiet noise of surprise when he saw the girl's face and Lloyd looked at him questioningly as he closed the door.

"You know her?"

"Vaguely. Let's move her onto the couch."

Lloyd nodded, grabbing her ankles and lifting them from the floor so that he and Kratos could move her to the sofa.

"So?"

Kratos glanced at Lloyd pulling back a piece of ripped sleeve to reveal a thin knife wound.

"She's a student in my class. Her name's Sequoia Treen."

"Sequoia Treen huh? Man, she's got some bad luck having a name like that."

Kratos grunted in agreement.

"…She's a half-elf too," Lloyd observed, noting pointed ears half concealed by violet hair.

"Yes…her family live on Exire. Or rather _lived. _I wonder if she went there after we did and got caught."

"I guess she could've. It'd make sense…but how'd she get away from them?"

Lloyd walked away into the kitchen, returning a moment later with a bowl of water and a cloth which he handed to Kratos. The older man took them, using the items to clean the wounds dotted around her body.

Kratos shook his head in response to Lloyd's question. "I don't know. She wouldn't have been able to escape on her own."

Sequoia groaned, her eyes fluttering open and she stared blankly at the ceiling for a moment before jerking upright only to be pushed back down by Kratos. Soft yellow eyes strayed over to him, widening in recognition.

"Professor Aurion! You're here!"

"So are you, which leads me to ask why, exactly?"

"…they caught me, the men who kidnap half-elves. They were taking me to…"

She fell silent as her eyes alighted on the young man standing behind her professor. Kratos glanced back at him.

"My son, Lloyd Irving-Aurion. You asked for him too I believe?"

"Yes…I was told to find you by uh, your friend."

"Our friend?" Lloyd asked "That's a bit uh…what's the word?"

"Ambiguous?"

"Uh…could be."

"It means 'vague' Lloyd, unclear."

"Ah, yeah, that's the one!"

"…I think it'd be beneficial to our understanding if you were to tell us what happened from the beginning, Sequoia."

"Sure…"

"This is gonna take a while isn't it?" Lloyd asked, distractedly

"Quite possibly."

"…I'm gonna make something to drink."

He turned and walked out the room, listening to the conversation between his father and the student.

"After you left Sybak I tried to follow you. There were a lot of people saying about Exire and that it had crashed just beyond Systa bridge."

"That's the old Tethe'all bridge, right?" Lloyd called from the kitchen.

"Yes Lloyd."

"Yeah, so anyway, I tried to follow you because I was worried about my family but it took me a while to get out of the city. I got the bridge and then saw these really creepy looking guys dressed on all these weird uniforms coming, so I hid. I think they were those guys who've been kidnapping half-elves."

"Any particular reason why?"

"Because they had two blind-folded half-elves with them. A woman and a boy or young man."

Kratos jerked, wondering if she had seen Raine and Genis being taken to that place. In the kitchen, a cup broke and Lloyd cursed.

"The half-elves you saw them kidnapping, can you give me a description of them?"

Sequoia shook her head "I think maybe they both had whitish hair, or maybe just really pale blonde and I think the woman was wearing a blue blouse…that's all I can say. The guy was kinda blocked from my view so…"

' _Blue blouse. That's what Raine was wearing when we went to Exire. Both of them, the male and female had white hair…oh Gods it __**was**__them she saw.'_

"Does it matter?" Sequoia asked.

"I think those two half-elves were my companions that I travelled to Exire with. Do you remember the young man that came into the class to tell me about Exire?"

Recognition dawned on her face. "Yes! I think it was him! What did you call him…Genis?"

Kratos nodded.

"Did I hear Genis being mentioned?!" Lloyd had ran back into the room, a flustered look on his face, his breathing slightly heavy.

"Sequoia saw Raine and Genis being taken…wherever the half-elves are taken."

"When?!"

"4 days ago or so."

"And they somehow told you to find us?" Kratos asked, turning his attention back to her story.

"No. I hid for a couple of days and then started to head off for Exire when I was caught. When I was just outside the base these humans got into a fight with the soldiers. This guy grabbed me and told me to look for you?"

"What did this guy look like?" Lloyd questioned, pacing slightly now.

"Uh, he was pale, kinda tall, really long red hair, blue eyes…wore pink. He told me to tell you that if he and the ninja woman didn't get away to tell you what happened."

"Zelos and Sheena." Kratos stated, looking at Lloyd

"They've been killed?" the younger Aurion asked

"I think they've been captured instead."

"Do you know anything else?"

"Only that the guys who kidnapped me call themselves 'Saloth'sarians' and that they're part of an organisation called Saloth'sar. Oh, and their base is like, under the roots of the great tree."

"The remains of the Tower of Salvation…how ironic." Kratos commented.

"Why is that ironic?" Lloyd asked, stopping his pacing to look at the older man. Kratos shook his head.

"It's not important. In light of the events, I think we need to call everyone who's left together."

"You mean Regal, Presea and Colette?"

Kratos nodded "That's a fair point, there were only nine of us to begin with four of us are now imprisoned."

"We can call on other people for help though, right? I mean there's the people of Mizuho and the Renegades…you could get Yuan to give a hand."

"No. I've been attempting to contact Yuan for a while now and I haven't been successful. I've even picked the lock on his personal quarters to try and see him…"

"Crap."

"Indeed. Our list of allies is rather thin."

"Hmm…well Colette's only in the village of course and Regal and Presea were saying that they were gonna come back up because they had some news for us."

"Do you have an estimated time for their arrival?"

Lloyd stared, blinking once before replying.

"….if you mean 'when're they gonna get here?' Probably tomorrow."

"I see."

"I take it you're gonna need to stay here for a little while, right?" Lloyd asked, turning his attention to Sequoia who had sat quietly, listening to the exchange between the two humans.

"Oh no! I couldn't ask that…besides…you're human. It would be…unseemly for a half-elf to stay with you, especially living in her teacher's house"

"Apparently you weren't paying attention in class when I said that race was irrelevant and I pointed out that Raine and Genis, the half-elves you told us about, were friends of ours.

Also, this isn't my home. It's Lloyd's."

Her soft yellow eyes travelled across to the youth. "Which is why _I_asked. Not Kratos. He doesn't really get to decide the rules of my house."

Kratos shrugged and stood slowly, careful not to move in a way that would pull on his wound. "It would seem foolish for you to leave here in your current condition, Miss Treen."

"Besides, would you have anywhere to go if you did leave?"

She shook her head. "Not really, there're dorms back at the academy but…that's back in Sybak."

"Then you can stay here with me and dad until you can get back home."

"Thank you."

"No prob." Lloyd stepped back from the sofa, and disappeared into the kitchen again. "the bathroom's down there if you wanna clean up or something."

A hand pointed in a vague direction out of the kitchen door.

"Down the hall and on the left," Kratos clarified, walking to the front door.

"Professor? Where're you going?"

"Hmm? Just…outside."

The seraph pulled the door open, stepping into the sunlight before heading for the shelter that Noishe lay in. He sat down beside the animal resting his back against his side. Staring out across the garden, Kratos wondered just how many more of the group would be captured and if any of them would make it back out.

---

Heavy knocks thudded at the door, announcing the arrival of a new…arrival and Kratos looked up wearily from his book, marking the page and setting it down quietly before getting up to answer the hammered summoning.

"Kratos," Regal greeted "I'm glad to see that you've recovered so well already."

"I thank you for your concern," the auburn haired warrior replied, steeping back to allow Regal space to step through the doorway. Presea appeared from behind him, stepping through the doorway and offering the seraph a timid smile. She never had become accustomed to his presence, never fully comfortable with that aura of power that drifted off him lazily, yet demanded so much attention.

The pink-haired girl skirted around the back of Regal, and sat quietly on the couch, looking uncomfortable.

"Lloyd and Colette should be here in a moment." Kratos informed the two new arrivals, sitting back down in the armchair he had been occupying previously, not failing to notice the way Presea shifted away on the couch so that she wasn't directly in line with him, folding her now long legs underneath her body. A 31 year old woman in the body of a girl half her age, but she still acted the age her body portrayed.

Regal sat beside her, giving her a light pat on the shoulder, aware of her discomfort at being around Kratos. He flicked a short lock of blue hair back into place, combing it back into the rest of his short hair with his fingers.

"So is this news Lloyd and you have for us good or bad?"

"The latter, I'm afraid. I'm not sure whether Lloyd will be telling Colette as we speak but I think it would be best to wait for them."

The blue-haired duke nodded in agreement. "On a slightly more…intimate matter, have either of them made any progress?"

Kratos chuckled lightly, a rare event that made Regal and Presea start with surprise at the event. "No. They're either blind to each other or genuinely not interested."

"I'd find that hard to believe."

"I…"

The door opened and Kratos cut off whatever he was about to say abruptly, adopting a well-rehearsed neutral expression that hopefully covered up the topic they had just been discussing.

Apparently, it did.

"Hey everyone!" Colette chirped, bouncing on the balls of her feet in that relentlessly chipper way of hers.

"Hi Regal, Presea, when did you get here?" Lloyd asked, slipping his swords out of his belt loops and letting them rest by the side of the door, next to Kratos' long sword.

"Just a few moments ago," Regal informed the brunet.

Down the hall a door shut and the guests turned to look down the hall at the noise.

"I…thought it was just us?" Presea asked, shrinking back slightly when Kratos' sharp eyes flitted over her.

"That's Sequoia, one of Dad's students, Long story short, she's a half-elf that got away from the Saloth'sarians and is staying with us until it's safe for her to go home."

"Is she OK?!" Colette asked

"She's fine, Colette," Kratos answered "And we have her to thank for all the information we can impart upon you."

"What are Saloth'sarians?" The duke asked, his interest piqued by the name

"They're the organisation, or rather the people who work for the organisation Saloth'sar…the organisation that's taken our companions hostage."

"I see. The half-elf kidnappers."

"Uh, not just half-elves," Lloyd replied "Anyone who helps half-elves, humans included. I suppose they're a sort of opposite to the Desians."

"Which brings us to our unfortunate news," Kratos stated and all eyes turned towards him, vene Presea's watery blue eyes locked onto him. Kratos sighed "It seems that Zelos and Sheena have also been captured."

"What!? How?!" It was rare for Regal to show so much emotion, like Kratos, he was rather reserved. Nevertheless, the news made him jump to his feet, Presea by his side.

"When Sheena and Zelos were scouting the area around Old Mizuho they found the Saloth'sarians bringing a half-elf into their base. They were discovered and they helped her, specifically Sequoia," the mercenary gestured down the hall "to escape. Zelos and Sheena were captured, the clan members who were with them are likely to have been killed."

"We have to save them!" Colette stated balling her fists and bringing them to just below her chin, her sign of determination. "We can't just leave four of our friends trapped there! And who knows what they've done to Professor Sage and Genis already. They've been there for days."

"Colette, calm down. No one intends to leave anyone there, but getting them out is not going to be easy especially given the little information we have." Regal hushed the blonde.

Kratos nodded in agreement "Regal's right. For now, all we can do is gather information and hope that our companions will be wise enough to play along until we can get them out of there."

"It'd be easier if we could somehow get to them," Lloyd suggested, sitting on the arm of the chair Kratos was occupying "but be able to get out as well…"

His father opted not to say anything about the obviousness of Lloyd's statement.

"Regal…our job," Presea prodded the blue haired man in the back and the noble's eyes alighted with an idea.

"Of course," he turned to the rest of the group "Presea and I have been commissioned to aid in an expansion project of a 'holding and containment centre' that is at 'the centre of the earth."

"That's where the great tree is…" Lloyd murmured

"Which is next to Old Mizuho…" Colette continued

"Which, by the sounds of it, is where the Saloth'sarians are." Regal concluded "What's more, if we accept, we're allowed to bring in any craftsmen we deem necessary." He looked directly at Lloyd and a grin spread across the boys' face.

"Excellent! At least three of us can get in…but what about getting out?"

"Outside workers that the organisation has hired are not required to live on site, so in theory, as long as the site manager, which would be me," Regal answered "agrees to let you go…"

"We can come and go as we please," Lloyd finished, his grin growing wider.

"Exactly. Colette and Kratos will not be able to attend, of course, unless I can find a plausible excuse to bring them in, but at least myself, Lloyd and Presea will be able to access the site for as long as we need."

"And you can delay the project as is necessary," Kratos added and Regal nodded.

"Alright!" Lloyd exclaimed "When do we start?"

"The day after tomorrow…at sunrise."

'_The dawn of new hope.'_

* * *

Well there you have it, another chapter done. As always, reviews, comments, opinions and ideas are always welcome and appreciated. One thing, if you don't sign in to review and have asked a question,or wish to be replied to, please leave an e-mail address or method of contact. I like to personally reply to people who take the time to review. 

So please review, go on, push my button!


	8. Monotony

A.N: Not much to say here, except that hopefully it's just picked up.

* * *

Monotony  


6 days. 6 days since she had been captured and for the last 3 days, she had been working in the lab. 3 days of researching the relationship between mana signatures and genetic variation.

In any other situation, Raine would've found the subject fascinating and jumped on the opportunity to study something like this, with all this high-tech up to date equipment. In this situation however, it was frustrating and…boring.

Gods, she was sounding more like Lloyd each day and that fact alone was extremely worrying to her.

Yet there was no denying the fact that the work was boring, consisting of nothing more than standing in front of groups of humans and half-elves and working out what their race was depending on their mana signature before trying to note down the difference between the signatures. Which meant cross-referencing them with their family members (if present) to try and distinguish which part of the signature related to the elven and human elements of the blood. Not only that but the Saloth'sarians had oh so helpfully decided that it must be written in runes and symbols which _they_decided, represented the feeling of the signatures.

As if a human could ever hope to understand that feeling.

It was just lucky that Raine and Genis had some basic grasp of the Angelic Language, thanks to Kratos, because the runes that they were using seemed very closely related to that language. Oh and it most certainly did not represent that feeling of mana. Not even close.

The oldest, most subtle and beautiful language in the world, as close to nature as is linguistically possible would not be able to describe the ambiguous, warming, soft yet electric feeling of mana. See? Those words didn't come close to describing it.

Raine signed, waving a group of human slaves out of the room (and she had been surprised to see that the Saloth'sarians held humans captive) and turning to Genis, reading over what he had written briefly.

Apparently once they had finished identifying mana signatures of sub-species, they would move onto the genetic aspect. Which probably meant drawing blood and causing fear and pain, something which she wasn't looking forwards too.

"This is so boring," Genis mumbled, scratching a rune half-heartedly onto the paper.

"I know, but there's nothing we can do for now except lay low and try to find out what this experiment is for."

"I don't like it. It's not going to be good for half-elves whatever it is."

"No."

"And that mana in the reactor is making me uneasy."

Raine turned to look out of the small examination room's window at the tank in the main lab, the blue-violet light spilling out into the office-like space where they wrote up and processed their notes.

"I know it seems…familiar."

"It's coming from a person I'm sure it is."

"Quite possibly but we can't do anything about it yet Genis. Let's focus on what we can do now."

"Alright, I know."

Raine glanced back to the tank and sighed before turning back to her own notes. A siren sounded a second later and she wearily lowered the pen.

"Lunch! Finally!" Genis spun on the spot, heading straight for the metal door that sealed them into the ante-chamber like room.

This was it now. This was her, _their _life.

Wake up, have breakfast, work, have lunch, work, have dinner, work, got to sleep. Repeat. Day in, day out.

It was monotonous, boring and…

"Oh phe-uw!" Genis commented, pinching his fingers over his nose as they met up with the other half-elves from their section. All five of them.

Smelly. In fact they were only allowed to bathe once a week, twice if they maybe smelt really foul. Which some poor guy was.

"Ugh Lamar! You're really…ew."

"Yeah thanks, Genis really appreciated there."

"Sorry but, y'know?"

"Yeah. I know. Strangely enough I can smell it…it is coming from me after all."

Raine smiled politely at the pungent half-elf and he blushed profusely, scurrying away into a corner to eat his lunch away from the other scientists.

Delicately, she reached out and grabbed a soggy looking sandwich from a small pile of….soggy sandwiches, biting into it and trying not to taste it at the same time.

"So…what've we discovered?" she asked, addressing the group, chewing thoughtfully.

"Other than our own work is boring and repetitive? Not much. There's a definite difference between human and half-elf signatures but finding out what it is exactly is tricky." It was a small woman, Storme, who answered her.

"It'd be easier if we had a full blooded elf to compare to." One of the younger scientists commented, flicking a strand of blonde hair out of his eyes.

"Yes, but we don't have that liberty,"

"You said _our _work is boring and repetitive," Genis pointed out through a mouthful of bread "What about the others work?"

"What about it?"

"Well what are they doing? 'Cos I don't really care what we're doing separately but what it'll lead to when all the research comes together."

"He has a good point," Lamar murmured from the corner "what are we doing this research for?"

"Like they'd tell us that." Storme scoffed.

"But it is a point," Raine drew the attention of the assembly "If they don't tell us…we should find out ourselves. I don't like the idea of working on a project that we have no idea what it'll do when completed."

"So what we go up to them and ask nicely?"

"No. We gather information and draw our own conclusions. We're far more intelligent than those who've captured us or we wouldn't be working on this for them."

"Or they're just lazy."

"Again, no, they wouldn't risk the information slipping to us unless they had no other alternative."

"It's a good point."

"Lamar! Say something different for a change." Storme turned, hurling a chunk of half-eaten bread at him.

"Sheesh, touchy touchy."

"Children," Raine admonished "Can we please have some focus?"

"So what're we going to do to get this information?"

"Simple, we talk."

--

A hand roughly shoved Raine and she stumbled into her cell, turning back to face the guard just in time to see him slam the door on her, walking away without a second glance.

Slipping her arms through the bars and resting them on the waist high horizontal ledge that ran along the inside of the bars, shifting her weight back onto her lower body, waiting until he had left before she did anything else.

The door to the room slammed shut and she waited a moment, keeping her head tilted as she listened for any hint of them returning. There was none that she could hear and the other prisoners had begun their whispered conversations to their cell-mates, a hum of hushed voices filling the room.

Raine straightened and stood at the bars, looking around before calling to Siofra. The pink haired woman, just one down and opposite from her was at the bars in seconds, looking back at the professor.

"Any luck?"

"Oh there are plenty of people who want to, just not many who believe they can."

"Anyone in this quarter who does believe?"

"Me. And a couple of girls down the end."

"What do the rest think?"

"The same as they think about everyone who believes they can escape. They're insane. Then again, everyone before has just sort of sat in a corner muttering plans to themselves and rocking. You're a bit different."

"I should certainly hope so."

"So, is it motivating speech time?"

"Yes…I just wish I was more like Lloyd…and there I thought I never hear myself say that."

Siofra smiled kindly, encouragingly, before shouting to grab the attention of the women in the room.

"Our newest addition has something she'd like to put to you," she announced and pointed to Raine. Eyes of every shade known to sentient races turned to her.

Raine regarded them for a minute, thinking, before she spoke.

"How many of you think about escaping?"

A murmur ran through the room.

"All of us, yes? How many of us believe we can?"

"Only you." A voice shouted.

"Is that really true? Does no one other than me believe we can get out of here _alive_?"

"I believe." Siofra stated, raising her hand through the bars of her cell.

"Oh wow the crack pot believes, that's reassuring." A dark haired woman called.

"I suppose two people aren't that impressive…let me put it to you this way…how many people believed that the world they lived in either Sylvarant and Tethe'alla was the only world?

Everyone.

How many people believed that could change?

No-one.

How many people believe that the world is now truly one?"

She waited for the rising murmur to die down again, noticing the fixed attention she had from everyone in the room.

"If something as big as the re-unification can occur, why can't something as small as our escape occur? Why can an entire world be re-united by just 10 people, but not a group of thousands of people escape oppression?"

"Because it's humans who oppress us."

"So? They're not our superiors. They are not better than us…If every single half-elf in this room rebelled, we would get somewhere, not far, but somewhere. If every single half-elf in this facility rebelled, we could be free.

We are standing under the roots of the Great Tree of Mana. A giant tree that was once just a fleck of mana like everything else. If it can grow from a nut to a tree, then we can grow from a handful of prisoners to a tidal wave of people fighting for freedom."

"We can escape," Siofra stated "As long as we unite and believe."

"And we're not alone," Raine cut off a girl who had opened her mouth to speak "There are people on the outside who are working to free us, who will do anything to get us free."

"You mean 'you' free"

"No. These people are my friends and I know them, they won't save one or two and leave thousands suffering. When they have a job, they see it through."

"So you're saying that a few half-elves on the outside are going to save us?"

"No, we're going to save ourselves a few _humans_on the outside are going to help us."

"Humans? Yeah right."

"I've travelled with these people, they're my friends and family and they're more powerful than you know.

Tomorrow, in the mess hall, I want those of you who believe we can escape to tell your friends that we can, I want you to spread the message."

"What about the men?"

"I have my brother working on them. If we all stand together as a race, we can over come them…we can escape."

"And your human friends…will come?"

"I have faith in him."

"Him?"

Raine shook her head at the word, not understanding "What?"

"You said I have faith in 'him'."

"Ah…I was just thinking about one of them in particular."

"Why him?"

"Because he's…him. Does the name Kratos Aurion mean anything to you?"

"Kratos Aurion?" It was Siofra who asked, a look of perplexity crossing her face.

"You know him?" The professor was mildly puzzled by Siofra's reaction.

"He's my sister's Professor, he teaches Angeology…there are all these weird stories about him, that he's an angel, a companion of the hero Mithos."

"Is it true?"

The woman in the cell across from Raine stood, staring intently at her, waiting for an answer.

Raine shrugged and smiled "Maybe." And there was a glint in her eyes and told them all they needed to know.

---

The glass and chrome slid shut with that bizarre sucking sound that made Raine feel like there was a vacuum about to be formed in the room and she looked up from her notes to Genis who had just walked in. He was cradling his right arm with his left, a red scratch running up his forearm.

"Genis, what happened?"

She got up, putting her notes down on the table and walking to him, taking the injured limb in her hand, running a thumb experimentally over the already swollen flesh. He flinched away slightly.

"I made a diversion…"

"..Why?"

"Because the guys in the other room have told me what they're studying."

Her hands paused in their ministrations at his words and she looked up her eyes meeting Genis'.

"So what're they doing exactly?"

"Well one group is looking into creating mana-based explosions…"

"As in the same way the sorcerer's ring acted in the Toize Valley Mine,"

"Exactly…but bigger, thousands of times bigger."

"What about the other groups?" Raine grabbed a first aid kit from a cupboard, taking a swab out and dipping it in an iodine solution.

"Another one is looking into tracking devices using mana signatures and genetics as a trail."

The professor remained silent, gently cleaning the scratch as Genis relayed the information, flinching away from the stinging liquid.

"And there are how many groups in total?"

"Four or five. One is apparently working somewhere in the ocean…the tracking devices group is supposed to be working with us once they've reached a certain stage in their research."

Raine pulled her hand away as she crouched before her brother, raising her eyes again to meet his again.

"You understand what they're trying to do?"

Genis nodded, his mouth set into a firm, grim line. "They're trying to wipe us out all at once."

"Genocide of the half-elves."

* * *

I'd like to take this point to make a more serious note about the continuation of this fic, now that you've finished with this chapter. Before I do, I 'd like to point out that I'm not a petty person who wants people to fall to their knees gasping in awe at my writing, opinions are opinions. Meaning that I would actually like some feedback i.e. if I don't see any sign that people are reading a liking this fic, I won't continue it. I don't want to stop writing it, but if I haven't got evidence that people are getting something out of it I will stop. I'm not saying I need every single person reading this to review, just one or two would be nice. Anyone else reading this who writes fan-fics themselves understands right?

So please, if you wanna see this fic continuing, let me know somehow. Thanks for reading.


	9. Germination

A.N: You know what I'm gonna say by now, but I'll say it anyway, thanks for all the reviews that I've been recieving. I've decided to carry on with this fic (I assume anyone who has read up to this point is interested in this fic so, yay, good news.) However, please don't neglect to review...it's always very appreciated to see what people think of my work.

Anyway, Enjoy this chapter.

* * *

Germination

Dim light shone weakly on damp, brown walls of rock, ragged surfaces covered with thick green slime and dull grey-green moss.

Zelos scowled in distaste at it, running a dirty finger down its surface, grimacing as the digit slid over slime with little effort.

"You got us caught," Sheena reminded him, tying her hair back, pulling it away from her face.

"Oh I'm sorry, would you rather we let that girl be brought in and tortured?"

Sheena remained silent, a few strands of ebony hair still dangling in her face. Gingerly, Zelos brushed the strands behind her ear, an attempt at a peace offering.

It had been 6 days since he and Sheena had been captured, 8 since Genis and Raine had gone missing, and the ninja still wasn't entirely ready to forgive him for getting them into this situation.

They had been grouped together with a few other humans who had been captured for aiding half-elves and put to work, digging a long, rather pointless tunnel, deep under the surface of the earth. Consequently it was dark, cold and wet, their only source of warmth other than themselves being the small oil-lamps that flickered dimly behind them.

The tunnel was a few dozen miles long already, dug by humans and half-elves who had long since died or been moved onto other projects. Most likely, the former.

Zelos sighed heavily as the people behind him and Sheena prepared themselves for work and he turned, tucking his now tangled red hair down the back of his shirt, frowning at the greasy feel of it.

Walking to the back of the group he hefted a pick-axe over his shoulder, before returning to the rock face, standing in line with the others. Sheena joined him a second later.

"Alright, ladies and gents!" A voice called from behind them, their supervisor "Remember to watch out for cave-ins and on the count of three, lets get this tunnel extended…one, two…" Zelos shifted his grip on the shaft of the axe "three!"

--

"Alright guys, let's pack it up for now!"

The call cut through dust filled air and immediately a dozen heavy pick-axes fell to the floor, clanging heavy as they hit it.

Sheena brushed a hand through her hair, feeling it coming loose of the band that tied it back and growling in frustration. Zelos stood beside her, breathing heavily, his entire upper-body coated with a layer of grime.

Blue eyes slid over to her as he sensed her watching him and he smiled brightly, teeth white against dust-greyed skin. She rolled her eyes, showing irritance, feeling relief that someone could keep smiling at least. Even if it was only Zelos.

"Lunch awaits." He stated, and made a sweeping gesture with his hands back towards the entrance of the tunnel, several miles away.

"I still can't believe they make us go all the way back up there to eat and then come all the way back down."

He shrugged "As long as we get a break from this place I don't really care what they do."

"That sounds about right for you."

"What can I say? I am your constant."

"My constant pain in the ass."

"Sheena, your words wound me."

She snorted in amusement, flicking yet another piece of dust coated hair out of her face. Beside her, Zelos walked in silence, his gaze boring a hole into the back of the head of the woman walking in front of them. The woman's gait was uneven, staggered from fatigue caused by too much manual labour, too little rest and food.

Even humans were treated like crap in this place.

A light up ahead illuminated a small mine cart set on tracks and Zelos hopped into it, jumping cleanly over the side, offering a hand to Sheena as she crawled over the side of the cart, slotting in next to the other workers and sitting sullenly as the cart began moving.

It would be another half-hour before they reached the surface and got to eat their oh-so-wonderful meal of stale bread and Zelos, despite his show of energy by jumping into the cart, sat gratefully on the floor of the cart. The hour long break was brief, considering how long they would be working for, but it was a break nevertheless.

Pulling a clump of matted, dust covered red hair over his shoulder, Zelos preened, trying unsuccessfully to remove some of the mess from it, looking up to Sheena as he did.

She was leaning back against the cart; her head tilted back, eyes closed. Ebony hair trailed limply onto her shoulders which heaved slightly as she breathed.

It wasn't hard to see that the treatment was taking its toll on her and Zelos felt guilt stabbing at him, knowing that he had dragged her into this. She wouldn't let him forget it either.

The cart jerked on its tracks suddenly and its occupants lurched with the movement before slamming back into the wooden walls of the cart, grumbling about the rough journey.

Sheena opened her eyes at the shake, rubbing the shoulder that had slammed into the wood before noticing Zelos' vacant gaze at her, distant and apologetic with his thoughts. She smiled slightly, for all his flaws and his betrayal (which lets face it, was five years ago) he had a good heart and he could be one of the sweetest guys ever…when he wasn't follow some 6 foot, blonde, 5 inch waisted hussy around anyway. But…he was even starting to grow out of that. He was as flirtatious as ever, but it had been a while since he had had any actual partners…that she knew of anyway and she and Zelos had gotten pretty close in the past few years.

He blinked suddenly, awareness of the present coming back to him and his eyes flicked up to meet hers.

"Barricade coming up!"

The warning was shouted from the front-most cart and the occupants braced themselves for the crash with the metal barrier. Instead of slowing the cart to a gradual halt, the Saloth'sarians apparently thought it was much more fun to let it crash and give the workers a good shaking.

The impact was loud, the noise reverberating down the tunnel and Zelos looked up at the rocks a few feet overhead, wondering if they could be shaken loose by the noise. He quickly scrambled out of the cart, following Sheena closely as they left the mining area, heading for the mess hall where they would eat their lunch.

"Wilder! Fujibayashi!"

The two stopped, turning to face their supervisor dubiously. The man was hardly friendly at the best of times, so the fact that he had singled them out was greatly worrying.

"We've got a new construction expert coming in to help on the digging front. We want you to represent the diggers."

"Why?"

"Because you're not totally broken and exhausted like the other slaves. You can put on a good show for us to make him see that he's working within an…equal opportunities environment."

"And if we tell him that you treat us like crap?"

The supervisor merely smirked and pulled a whip loose from his belt. They both got the message pretty quickly.

"So…you go and meet him, now."

"But.."

"You'll be eating with him."

"I think Zelos was referring to our appearance," Sheena stated, gesturing down at the mass of grime clinging to them.

"Ah of course. There're clean suits in the ante-chamber before you go in. You'll be given a few minutes to change before you go in."

Dejectedly the humans nodded, setting off in the directions their 'superior' had just indicated.

"Oh Zelos, one more thing."

The red-head stopped, turning his head to the man who was striding towards him.

"What?"

"Just this." He reached out quickly and snatched a handful of Zelos' hair dragging the ex-chosen back towards him before using the other hand to collect all the hair together at the base of his neck, holding the other man firmly in place.

"It's proving to be a liability." In one movement he drew a knife from his belt and sliced upwards in a smooth arc.

Zelos, who had been leaning away, being held back only by his hair, suddenly pitched forwards as the tension disappeared, falling face-first onto the floor.

The supervisor chuckled as Zelos pushed himself up, turning his head to glare at the man. He merely continued laughing, throwing the severed hair at him before walking away to attend to different matters.

The ex-chosen glared at the retreating back as he pushed himself up from the floor, his hair clutched in one hand. Glaring down at it he threw it to the floor angrily, dust rising from it at the impact.

"Bastard has no idea how long that took to grow."

Sheena walked over to her miffed partner as she stood, glaring at the 3 foot of matted red-hair that lay on the floor, taking him by the elbow gently and guiding him away.

"C'mon Zelos, we have to go meet this construction guy….besides, it'll grow back…eventually."

Zelos grunted moodily, letting himself be led away by Sheena.

They walked quietly, the nobleman constantly running his hands over the ends of his now chin-length hair, muttering to himself.

"It's only hair, Zel."

"That's not the point. It's the principle…the fact that they would do it."

"Cut off your hair?"

"Violate me!"

"…You're making it sound like you've been raped."

"And what's the definition of rape?"

"Forcing someone to engage in something against their will."

"And did I want my hair to be cut off? No. Did they do it against my will? Yes."

"Ok, fine, Zelos, they raped you of your hair."

"Hmm."

"Just be glad they haven't really done that."

"I guess."

The meeting room they were heading for was now only a short distance away and the two humans entered the building that housed it hesitantly before climbing the stairs and slipping into the ante-room where they changed clothes.

The doors to the meeting room were heavy oak and try as he might, Zelos couldn't hear anything through them.

"Guess we're going in blind." He commented, closing the zip of the suit, noting that these ones actually offered some protection unlike the rags they usually worked in.

Looking to Sheena to see if she was ready he nodded and offered her a small smile, before opening the door and stepping inside, the ninja following him closely.

The room was rather bare, just plain walls and a few pieces of furniture decorating the chamber.

A coffee table sat on top of a small rug, a couch arranged on each side. On one of them sat an extremely tall, well built man, his short hair hidden the hat he wore. He was leaning forwards, sipping from a cup of coffee his face turned away as if guiltily.

"Uh…hey…are you the construction manager?" Zelos asked the figure.

The man jerked at the sound of Zelos' voice before turning slowly to look at his guests, eyes widening as he saw them. Standing, he pushed the hat from his head, revealing neat sky blue hair.

Sheena stared before taking in a gasp of breath, mouth curving into a smile as she recognized him.

"Regal!"

--

"So you haven't seen Raine or Genis?" Regal asked, sipping a cup of coffee as Zelos and Sheena sat by him, taking their own drinks.

"No, and we've been here…what? 6 days?" Sheena responded, brushing some remaining dust particles from her hair.

"I see."

"So what's the deal with you Regal? Working here I mean."

"I was offered the job of construction manager on an expansion project at this site and since, thanks to the half-elf girl you rescued told us, we knew that this was where the Saloth'sarians made base, I accepted, with the intention of helping you, Raine and Genis to escape."

"It's not that simple though.." Zelos mumbled, running his fingers through his now significantly shorter hair. Regal seemed to have taken the hint that the red-head was not willing to talk about the loss of it when he had given it a pointed glance earlier and Zelos' had glared daggers at him.

"Because of all the other half-elves. We cannot leave them here to suffer."

"Exactly."

"Which is why it is actually quite fortunate that you are in here."

"What?!" Sheena sputtered, choking on her coffee.

"You couldn't escape with me straight away under any circumstances. In order for you, and the half-elves, to escape, there must be a mass revolt to confuse the authority here."

"So we spread the message," Zelos stated "We get them to band together against their oppressors."

"It is the only way. With you and Sheena in here, we can get information to form an attack from the outside, as well as you working on the inside."

"Hit 'em hard and fast from every side," Sheen smiled, nodding.

"Indeed. I'm able to bring Lloyd and Presea in as help for the project too, so information you gather can be passed onto Lloyd, who under my instructions will be only working part time, so that he can relate the information back to Kratos and Colette."

"Who are doing what exactly? Kratos is injured and Colette isn't a strategic planner or executer of plans."

"Actually, Kratos is almost fully healed…however, he is beginning to seem restless in regards to getting the plan underway."

"He feels guilty about Genis and Raine."

"Yes…that aside, he and Colette are attempting to protect and gather the half-elves who are still free. Once they have enough, they'll be ready to hit the organisation from the outside."

"And then we start the revolt in here."

Regal nodded.

"…What about Raine and Genis?" Sheena asked after a moment "We rarely get in touch with the half-elf slaves as it is…and even then it'd only be the lowest levels of work we get in contact with."

"What do you mean?"

"Half-elves are sorted into performing different tasks by their levels of intelligence…we only work with the rock-breakers…we wouldn't be able to get near Raine and Genis and I doubt you'd be able to find a feasible excuse to."

"Hmmm…. I see what you mean…we must hope that the half-elves we get in contact with can somehow pass on the message to even Raine and Genis' level."

"Hoping? That's it?"

"We don't have any other choice, unless something changes before we begin the…" Regal stopped suddenly when a door from lower down in the building slammed shut.

"We must discuss our parts in this later…"

The door to the room swung open suddenly, revealing the supervisor from earlier.

"Forgive me for my intrusion, but have we reached an agreement?"

Regal stood, straightening his back as he regarded the other man.

"We have. I will supervise this project providing the conditions I stated earlier are met."

"Of course. You can bring in your workers to aid you and they can come and go as you please…and of course you'll have a mixture of human and half-elves working under you. I'm afraid we simply don't have enough human workers for you to have an all human team."

"That is fine, as I said before, I don't care about the race as long as they work and will listen to me."

"Then I will ask you to accompany me to the administrative buildings where we can get a contract drawn up…under the inspection of the Leader of our organisation of course."

"The Leader?" Zelos questioned.

"I assure you that it is none of your concern, Wilder. You and Fujibayashi may return to the mess hall for your meals."

"I will be in contact with you." Regal stated his friends as they left the room reluctantly. The door closed heavily behind them.

"So Duke Bryant, would you accompany me in meeting the Leader then?"

Regal nodded. "Yes…may I ask…your Leader…what is his name?"

"Ah…we don't know, I'm afraid…the Leader likes to keep such things to himself. He says it defines him as the ultimate authority in our organisation."

"I see…well, it is good for one to define themselves as such…however they choose to do it." The words, praising this supposed man who captured and worked half-elves to death, left a bitter taste in Regal's mouth and he found himself almost choking on the words.

"Yeah, I think it is. You'd know about that, I imagine."

The Duke clenched his teeth at the words, the idea that he was anything like that man…he may have sinned in killing his love, but he was not capable of such cruelty as this 'Leader' was.

"Yes…It is necessary to have a certain amount of control over the situation."

Smiling, the supervisor walked to a door on the other side of the room that Regal hadn't noticed before and he opened it, gesturing for Regal to walk down the long glass and chrome corridor into the buildings beyond."

--

Whispers of it floated through the air, a rising feeling travelling through hushed voices. Hushed seeds of hope were planted in the minds of slaves…human and half-elf alike, waiting for the dawn of opportunity to initiate their germination.

* * *

So there you are. Now, please push my pretty purple button. 


	10. Distance

A.N: Thanks once again for the reviews.

Some notes about this chapter: I have _finally _got around to some real Kraine stuff...I realised that this was turning out more adventure/plot than Kratos and Raine relationship work, so I hope this will get that side of this fic back on track a little.

Warning: some very very vague references to sexual desire. I doubt anyone's going to be offended, but you know, I have to say it to be on the safe side.

And aren't you impressed by the update speed, btw? 7 days!

Anyway, I'll let you get on with the story now...enjoy!

* * *

Distance

Raine slumped against the stone wall her cot was lined up against, letting her head fall back and bang quietly against the grey concrete as she turned her gaze to the ceiling.

The day had gone by as slowly as usual, dragging on and on, filled with the monotonous task of documenting mana signatures and trying to decipher some kind of pattern within them. Everything was the same as the day before and the day before that…and the day before that. Nothing had changed.

Except…the information about the project was slowly coming together. Even today they had found out some extremely disturbing information about the project…namely the power source of the tracking device. That soft blue-purple light that spilled out from the machine they worked next to…was mana, half-elven mana.

It had only just occurred to Raine that it belonged to a person, but then, she had never really noticed it before having been too busy, her thoughts preoccupied with the bigger picture. The fact that it was a half-elf powering this project – involuntarily no doubt- did little to allay her curiosity about it though, nor did it answer why it felt so familiar. It was obviously a person she knew but still…the memory of him or her was stuffed at the back of her mind and refused to be dug out.

Groaning she slid down underneath the thin covers of the bed, curling herself into a ball in an attempt to keep some semblance of warmth around her in the frigid night air. Concrete proved to be a lousy insulator and she wasn't the only one suffering from the cold.

In the cell opposite, the two half-elves inside shivered, teeth chattering loudly, coughs and sneezes echoing around the room. However, Raine _was _the only person on their own in the room. At least they all had someone to curl up next to to keep warm if they needed to. She would've given anything in that moment to have someone curled up next to her at that moment, warming her, cuddling her, gentle hands stroking her hair, a soft deep voice soothing her, telling her that everything would be OK, that she was safe and that nothing could harm her ever again….

--

…_The weight next to her shifted, changing its balance causing her to roll into a firmly muscled body, long-fingered calloused hands pulling her closer, one burying in her hair, guiding her to rest her head in the crook of his neck._

_She snuggled in closer to his body, breathing in his scent, something powerful, yet gentle, intoxicating and soothing…like sugar and spice._

"_I'll always be here…always next to you." The voice was deep and low, hushed, soothing her with its honeyed tones whispering words of love. His other hand grasped hers gently, guiding it to a strongly muscled chest to lie over his heart._

_She could feel its rhythmic beat through the thin layer of skin and she pressed her hand against it more firmly, wanting to feel its security._

_Unseen by her, he smiled gently and lowered his head to kiss her hair, his own dark auburn strands contrasting sharply with pure silver._

--

She bolted upright, startled by the dream's content and revelations.

Kratos.

Her heart beat almost painfully as the name flitted through her mind, his face brushing her minds eye. The idea of intense garnet eyes on her made her shudder and she reached up to brush her hair back from her face, leaning back against the pillows as she thought of him.

It had been 10 days since they had been kidnapped, and the longing to see her friends again was starting to set in…and none moreso than the ancient seraph.

A day hadn't passed since his return from Derris-Kharlan that she hadn't seen him and now ten days seemed an awful long time to go without his presence. At one point she had been seeing more of the ex-mercenary than her brother.

She pulled herself further up in the bed, wrapping the blankets more closely around her chest as she stared across the room, the cold suddenly forgotten as she remembered the first time she ever saw him.

She had thought him brash and arrogant. Her first impression of him was of someone with more muscle than mind, more strength than common sense and an irritatingly condescending streak, despite his supposed idiocy.

He had quickly seen to it that she saw he was anything but though, roughly telling her on the first day of their journey, when Colette was asleep of course, that she was not to assume that he was going to defer to her and that he would not tolerate being treated as an idiot by her.

'_If you're going to assume that you can outwit me and manipulate me through superior intelligence, then I would advise you to go back to your village now. I will not tolerate that attitude despite my role here as a simple shield for the Chosen, understand?'_

She had only been able to nod in response as he leant forwards to tend to the fire _'I won't fall for your beauty either.'_ He had commented and the words had taken her by surprise to such a degree that she started at them.

After that she had quickly grown to respect him, his intelligence, knowledge and experience saving their lives more than once.

She recalled that once she had got to know him, he wasn't nearly as bad as he seemed to be. He was harsh, but fair, patient and intelligent and though he didn't smile or laugh often, she got the sense that there was something holding him back from letting himself grow to like them, that he had kept his distance for a reason.

His looks had also proved to be a major factor though too and though Raine wasn't a shallow woman who was only attracted to men based on his appearance, there was no denying that she found him pleasing to look at. His looks complemented his demeanour perfectly, he was an unusual specimen, but alluring, strong and sharp with an underlying hint of softness.

Authority and power were the first words that would've sprung to her mind to describe him back then…his voice too. So wonderfully masculine, deep, low and soothing….like black velvet.

Of course, then he had betrayed them and her feelings towards him had changed to festering resentment, border lining on hatred for what he had put them through for his precious boss and former friend.

Then he had rejoined them, saved their lives and helped them save the world.

He had put her through a rollercoaster of emotion over the years she had known him, invoked feelings that every other man she had met had failed to do…and she was sure he knew it. He was well aware of the effect he had on people…

But over the past few years, her feelings on him had changed drastically, turning from friendship to…well, something more. He had moved to Sybak and taken on his teaching role a few months after he had returned from Derris-Kharlan…and she had been so relieved to see him. He had offered her an already familiar company, intelligent conversation, equality and of course, a wonderful view. It was a well-discussed topic among the academy's veteran students that Professor Sage really liked Professor Aurion and that despite her race; Professor Aurion probably liked Professor Sage back.

Some students had even gone so far as to place bets on who would make the first move…and more importantly, when.

Raine sighed at the thoughts, rubbing a hand through her tangled hair, working the knots loose.

Even if she and Kratos did like each other in that way…neither of them would act upon it…it had already been 5 years. She was far too scared of him rejecting her to make a move and Kratos…he was a real old-fashioned gentlemen sometimes. That was, he was letting the lady go first…that rule didn't really apply to dating and relationships, she had told him once in a late night discussion of such subjects, but that was a piece of information that he seemed perfectly content to tune out.

It wasn't as if Anna was even holding him back anymore…Kratos had stated many times that he had moved on from her death…it was merely that fact that _he _had killed her that made the difference. So with all these reasons, it didn't really make much sense that they weren't yet a couple…they were attracted to each other, well matched…and the race issue didn't bother either of them, whether it was what other people thought or their own ideas.

She turned on her side suddenly, trying to dispel the thoughts as if the movement would aid her. Needless to say, it didn't and she spent the next half an hour tossing and turning restlessly, trying to find a comfortable position that would allow her to drift into sleep.

There wasn't one and even if there had have been, her overactive mind wasn't about to let her get away that easily.

Admitting defeat to her mind and its desires, coupled with that of her heart, she slid beneath the covers, wrapping her arms around herself in a cheap, empty mockery of him, letting her mind drift back to thoughts of the angel and lull her into sleep.

--

It was early morning, or at least, Raine assumed it was for she was being woken by a guard a harsh gruff voice waking her, bringing her back to reality.

God she wished that dreams could come true. If that were the case, she and Kratos would be…she flushed at the realisation exactly what her dream had been about, hoping she hadn't let slip what she was dreaming about to all the other women in the room.

She had, it seemed, for a couple of the other women were giving her knowing looks, smiling and nodding at her, a few making comments about her dream's partner, how he must be very skilled when it came to the ways of love.

Grumbling to herself about her imagination she threw off the thin covers, instantly recoiling when cold air hit the bare skin of her arms, banishing the little warmth she had held a few moments ago.

"Hey Raine!"

The voice was way too loud for her liking, especially for this time of morning, but she was slowly becoming accustomed to it. Siofra was just being friendly anyway, and it was better than the alternative.

"Siofra, good morning." She replied standing up and stretching.

"It was, by the sounds of it," the pink haired elf commented, smiling wickedly. Raine rolled her eyes. "So who is he?"

"Sorry?"

"The mysterious, sensual dream man."

"Just…a man I know."

"Ohh! So he's real,"

"Well yes," Raine commented a little haughtily, walking out of the cell to join her friend.

"We get to shower this morning by the way, but I'll warn you now…the water's usual cold…although it sounds like that's just what you need."

The silver haired elf passed the younger girl a look of displeasure.

"I'm only kidding, Raine, relax."

"It's embarrassing enough as it is."

"What? The fact that you have an interest in a guy is embarrassing?"

"No but…"

"I hear ya, say no more, say no more," Siofra made a vague waving motion with her hand "Just one more thing…"

"Yes?"

"The man you were dreaming of…was it this Kratos guy you mentioned before?"

Raine shifted uncomfortably as she walked and Siofra bounced in excitement. "I knew it! Ha! I knew you were more than just friends…or at least, you want to be."

Scowling, Raine lifted her nose to the air and strutted past Siofra, taking a left once she was past the doorway.

"Showers are to the right!" Siofra called, grinning when a second later, a still high-nosed Raine strutted off the other way.

--

The morning had all been a bit hazy if she was honest, Raine thought as she and Genis took a break from their work.

The younger half-elf was staring solemnly at the large tank containing the mana of the half-elf that was powering the project. Raine herself was in a similar state, chewing thoughtfully on her lower lip…although she would bet her thought train this morning was a bit different from Genis'. Well, she hoped it was, otherwise she was going to have to have a chat with him.

"Raine…"

"Hmm?"

"…the half-elf powering the project…"

"what about it?"

"D'you think he or she is actually in that tank?"

"…I don't know, Genis…they're definitely connected to it all the time…"

"This is so cruel."

"I know."

"We have to do something! We can't just sit back and watch them do this!" The young man jumped to his feet and turned to look at her, bent forwards slightly, fists clenched.

"Genis, I understand what you're saying and how you feel but…there's not much we can do about it right now. We have to wait until we have a definite plan formed."

"And by that point he or she might be dead!"

"Genis think….how long have we been here?"

"Uh…this is the 11th day I think."

"And feel how much mana is being emitted from him or her."

"Yeah but…"

"The Saloth'sarians are keeping the subject in good enough condition that they'll survive for a good while. Long enough to power the project which they don't know how long will take…"

"But…"

"It's a terrible quality of life but at least they can still be rescued."

"We should be doing something to help."

"There's nothing that can be done for now.

"That's not true…"

"Don't even think about putting yourself in danger Genis Sage." Raine stood up to look her brother in the eye, her tone low and warning despite the fact that she had to look up to reach his gaze now.

"Raine, if we complete this project we'll be betraying our entire race to death! We can't do that!"

"I won't allow you to put yourself in harm's way." She grabbed her brother by the upper arms, staring him solidly in the eye.

"Fine." He answered, wrenching away from her grasp and turning to find a seat distanced away from her a little.

Not entirely happy that her brother had given up on the idea of self-sacrifice for now she studied him for a few minutes before she turned back to start working. For all her words, if Genis believed he should do it, he would regardless of her opinions. With age, the boy had gained his own sense of self and confidence.

She just hoped that his emotions weren't blinding him to common sense and leading him down a path of self-demise. She sighed and opened the door to the lab, walking inside.

Outside, Genis sat on the deskand kicked his legs, watching his sister work.

* * *

So there you have it, another chapter done. Hope it was long enough and that it appeased some of the Krainey longing stuff...also that my grammar was a bit better in this chapter. I think somone pointed it out that it was a bit off last chapter...but then again that could've been my other fic...I don't know anymore it's all a bit of a blur nowadays. 

So, on to what I was actually intending to say before I started rambling - Certain elements of this chapter (as well as a Kraine fic that someone else wrote) ha inspired me to write a reflective Kraine piece. It doesn't tie in with this other than being some more in-depth reflections of what Raine thinks about Kratos. It'll probably be up in a few days to a week, if you're interested. Then again, if you're subsrcibed to my work, you'll be notified anyway. It'll probably be titled 'Black Velvet' or something along those lines if you want to keep and eye out for it.

If I don't update again before X-mas...Merry Christmas to you all!!

And now that I've blathered you to death...please push the review button.


	11. Out of Necessity

A.N: I did it! I actually managed to complete this chapter before Christmas day (just) and now I'm exhausted lol. As such I have no claims of grandeur to the quality of this chapter, but it's passable...I think. You're supposed to be the judges of that so get on and read it! This ladies and gentlemen, is my present to you.

* * *

Out of Necessity 

Lloyd yawned, stretched in the small cot, already wishing he was back at home in the privacy of his room with a generously sized, warm bed. As it was, he was sharing a room with four other guys, all older than him, and all extremely unpleasant.

Regal had returned to meet him, Kratos and whoever _wasn't_currently imprisoned in Saloth'sar's base, and informed them that the plan was well underway, telling them that he had met with Zelos and Sheena and that the two were safe, if not happy and they were spreading the word amongst the prisoners of the plan to rebel. Naturally, they had all been excited at the prospect of the freeing of their friends…and then Kratos, being Kratos, had pointed out that Regal hadn't told them about Raine and Genis situation. And so Regal did.

Lloyd had listened to Regal, his heart sinking with every word that none of them had made any contact with the half-elves and that there wasn't likely to be any. Kratos' face had fallen and though he hadn't been wearing an encouraged grin like the rest of them at the news, it had been obvious he was pleased with what Regal had told them before they got to the issue of Raine and Genis. But the news had pulled him back down to reality, the knowledge that there was no guarantee their friends would ever know about the rebellion hitting him hard.

Kratos had spent the rest of the day completely alone, withdrawing into himself as he processed the information. He had had the courtesy to listen to the rest of what Regal had to say and then left promptly, wandering into the woods, not answering when they called after him. Even Noishe had been shunned, banned from keeping him company.

The seraph had returned some hours later, looking haggard and distracted and Lloyd could've sworn his eyes had been red, his cheeks stained with the salt from dried tears. Not that the man gave him a chance to study him. He returned to the house, grunted a greeting and then disappeared into the bathroom to clean himself up. Eventually, he had emerged, pristine as ever, but there was something turbulent in the depths of those garnet eyes that wasn't entirely soothed.

If someone had suggested to Lloyd two weeks ago that his teacher's and his father's relationship wasn't entirely platonic, he would've laughed at them, told them they were dreaming and shrugged it off as easily as he had been told.

Now though…there was definite evidence to the contrary, that Kratos wasn't just a male friend to the half-elf…or at least, he didn't want to be just that.

It was natural to be anxious about your friends when they were in danger, when you didn't know what was happening to them but Kratos didn't seem just anxious he seemed outright _distraught_at times, guilt writing itself over his face every time Raine's name was mentioned. _Raine's_in particular. If someone mentioned Genis, the mercenary would lower his head, let guilt flit over his face but that was all…no pained expression, no deep suffering in his eyes, just a brisk acknowledgement that it was his fault and then the notion that something had to be done.

Lloyd stretched again, reaching for the clock that lay on the floor atop his clothes. 8:45. Which meant that the other guys would be getting up in fifteen minutes. He couldn't wait though; he had to meet Regal before anyone else, which meant getting to the site before 9:15.

Almost angrily, the young man rolled over, grabbing a towel off the floor along with a handful of clean clothes, throwing off the covers and making his way quietly to the bathroom to shower.

--

"Lloyd!"

His head jerked up at the sound of his name being called and he found himself staring at the tall figure of Regal, waving a hand in greeting at him.

Lloyd lifted his own hand in response before bringing it back down to pull the piece of toast he was eating from his mouth, biting a large chunk off and swallowing it whole as he walked to the older man. A second later, he was choking furiously and a large hand was slapping heavily at his back, forcing the bread out of his throat.

"Thanks," he gasped, eyes watering, straightening his back to look at the Duke.

"No problem, now, Lloyd, you know the plan for today?"

"I'm going down into the tunnels with the other workers to supervise them in your stead?"

"Yes and then.?"

"I'm reporting back to you at lunch, as long as I've gotten the right information about the tunnel and its workers."

Regal nodded "And?"

"And then I'm going home to my family, to not discuss what I've done down here." Lloyd winked at Regal as the Duke smiled at him.

"Excellent, you know your way to our entrance and exit from the base?"

He nodded.

"Good. You'll have to show the guard this to make him let you out."

"Yeah, ok," he took the pass, tucking it into an inside pocket of his shirt "So then I go home, have a pleasant two days rest and then come back, right?"

"Indeed. The other workers will be here in a minute, so remember to blend in with them Lloyd, don't be too soft on the half-elves in the presence of the Saloth'sarian guards. I've reassured them that you can handle your _team _but there will be guards on standby from time to time. You need to get a significant enough amount of work done to not stand out."

"Presea will be with me to help out on that, right?"

"Yes, she'll instruct the workers as to what needs to be done."

Lloyd nodded, noting the pink-haired young woman approaching them as if cued, a large hammer resting over her shoulder – a means to assure the men that her slender build didn't reflect her strength or ability.

"Hey Presea," Lloyd greeted, downing the last of his toast as a row of slaves began to file in through a door on the far left of the compound. "Ready to get to work?"

She nodded "Good morning Lloyd and yes, I am."

Regal pointed out the slaves as they filed in "That's your tunnelling crew."

"There aren't many of them," Lloyd observed.

"No, which is why they're so lightly guarded…be glad, there are only about 15 working under you."

"How many of them are half-elves?"

"5 or 6."

"And the others are humans?"

"Yes…captured for helping out the half-elves," A shock of red hair caught Regal's attention. "There's the last of your team…you had best get moving."

The brunette turned, noting the red hair and pale skin of the male and gave Regal and Presea a devilish grin.

"Let's get to work."

--

It was dark, cramped, musty, dirty and smelly. The air was thick with dust and the coughs of the workers who made no other noise save for laboured breathing and Lloyd found himself unable to comprehend how these people worked in these conditions every day for hours on end. They didn't get to see the sunlight at all anymore…with the entire base of Saloth'sar underground it made him appreciate the freedom he had.

"We need to put a support pillar at this point or the tunnel will collapse…" Presea was saying to the workers, calling half of them back to her to work on that job while the others kept digging. Lloyd paced over to her side, glancing behind him where the guards were keeping watch. They would be leaving in a few minutes to take a break…a long one at that, which Lloyd had no problem with. It gave him a chance to speak with Zelos and Sheena.

The two humans were working on digging, lifting painfully heavy pick axes and slamming them into hard rock, watching it splinter before taking another swing. There were 3 half-elves working by their sides, just as silent, but looking even worse than the two humans. Their breathing was heavier, their bodies thinner and it was taking everything in Lloyd not to rush over to them, pull them from their work and help them.

Scuffing his black boot against the floor, he turned to listen to what Presea was saying. The pink-haired girl was describing, acutely, the process of erecting the support pillars to stabilise the tunnel, ordering the workers to fetch three of the timbers from the cart.

Lloyd winced at the sight of the heavy wood. It would take three or four people in the best of health to move those pillars usually…as it stood, they had seven weakened and abused people, two of which were girls who looked to be little over sixteen.

"Presea," he murmured, laying a hand on her shoulder "You think we could wait until those guards have gone to move those pillars so that I can help them out?"

She shook her head "No. Lloyd, they've made it clear that we have to start putting the pillars up whilst they are here so they know we're doing our jobs properly. Besides, you need all that time to speak with Zelos and Sheena."

"But…"

"Lloyd… you are a kind person. But if you allow your kindness to interfere with this plan, you're merely weak…and we will not be able to help these people without strength."

He lowered his head slowly "I know…you told me that once before."

She nodded "It is only the truth. Come, we must keep working."

Nodding, Lloyd turned to watch as a three of the group building the pillars hefted a thick timber onto their shoulders, carrying it slowly back to the point that it would be put up at, flinching when one of the girls helping to carry it fell.

Blood dripped from her knees and hands as she got up and it was only Presea's hand on his arm that held him back from going to aid her. Shaking his head he turned away, focusing on the diggers who had turned to watch the other workers.

He caught Zelos' eyes on him as he turned back to them and with a hardened resolve, knowing this was the only way to free them, he cracked the flat of one of his swords against his palm warningly.

"What the hell are you looking at?! Back to work!" he shot a dark glance at he half-elven man standing next to Sheena, feeling his throat close at the terrified look he gave him. Even if it was only acting…there was no way he could hurt these people for long.

It took another half an hour for the guards to decide that they wanted their break and by that point, the workers were near collapsing point with exhaustion. Lloyd listened quietly, drowning out the grunts of exertion and clang of tools to listen to the footsteps of the guards, waiting until they were far enough out of range before he turned and stopped the workers.

"Sheena! Zelos!"

The two had disappeared into a cloud of dust several minutes ago and Lloyd had not seen them since. Eventually, they seemed to materialise from the cloud, coughing and shoving each other playfully.

"Whoa! Supervisor Irving-Aurion, looking good sir!!

"Don't even joke Zelos….I'm sick of this already." He gestured to the workers sitting on the floor, looking up at him with curiosity and fear.

"You're sure those guards are out of hearing range?" Sheena asked as she walked over to the young swordsman, to give him a welcoming hug. "So glad to see you," she murmured as he hugged her back.

"Me too and yeah there's no-way they could hear us now."

"Presea! My cute hunny!"

"..Zelos, it's good to see you're well," she greeted "but…um…what happened to your…"

"Don't mention the h.a.i.r if you don't want a monologue of how tragic his loss is." Sheena warned, flicking a hand towards him.

"Sheena! What are you doing with him?! He's a supervisor…." One of the younger girls, who had taken a liking to the ninja, had risen, shaking her fists at the swordsman.

"Everyone…we need your attention." Sheena announced, waving a hand placatingly at the girl.

Weary eyes turned towards her, bloodshot and sore from dust.

"You remember we told you about our friends on the outside? The friends who were going to help us?.."

A few heads nodded hesitantly.

"These, " she gestured to Lloyd and Presea "are two of them. This is Lloyd and Presea. That's why they're letting you rest….I know it seems weird considering Lloyd was shouting at you before but…well…he doesn't want to…he's a bit of a pansy really."

"Hey!"

Zelos snickered at the outburst from Lloyd before wrapping an arm around his friend's shoulder. "Aww…does poor Lloyd not like the title of 'pansy'? Y'know…we should've got you to go into the coliseum with that title."

"Yeah, like you managed to get Kratos to go in so that the announcer introduced him as the silent 'dad'." Lloyd sniggered back, remembering the look of sheer embarrassment his father had worn at the crowds laughter.

"Silent glarer and hander out of groundings!" Zelos shouted triumphantly.

"You see?" Sheena hitched a thumb back at the two laughing men "Harmless…to you guys anyway. He's gonna get us out of here. We have friends on the outside who Lloyd is going to meet later today and they're going to help us."

"Really?"

"Yes…but we need you to spread the message…and believe it this time. We all have to work together to get out of here…"

--

"So I'll let them know that it's gonna be a little while? It's already been 12 days since the professor and Genis were caught." Lloyd stated, exasperated at the lack of progress.

"Lloyd it takes time for people to believe. There are some who are already raring to get the rebellion underway but the majority aren't."

"…Kratos is getting really worked up."

"He's feeling guilty." Sheena stated, looking at the workers who had slowly got to their feet and started working again.

"I think it's more than guilt." He replied, before jumping up to help one of the half-elves support a beam that was being secure into place. With a smile, he let go of the beam as it slotted into place, standing on its own and the man, the one he had glared at earlier, bowed gratefully.

"…When are you leaving?"

"Lunch-time."

"And you'll be back in?"

"Two days. I'm helping Kratos and Colette out."

"To find the half-elves that are still free?"

"That's the idea…it's really difficult getting them to trust us."

"Well yeah, considering the news, that's not exactly surprising."

A raucous laugh echoed down the tunnels and the workers froze suddenly. Lloyd's mouth snapped shut on the response he had been about to give and he turned to the workers.

"Sorry guys, but we need you to go back to working hard again. We'll try and keep the guards off your case…"

Zelos and Sheena stood slowly, stretching. "Go harder on us than the rest if you have to," Zelos told him, tying back his short hair. "We can take it."

Biting the inside of the cheek, Lloyd nodded, pulling out the blade and letting it hang warningly by his side…a show for the guards….just as long as they never made him go through with it everything would be fine.

--

He soared above the town, wings pulling against the air as he hid in the clouds, sharp eyes on the look out, scanning Meltokio for any signs of a scuffle.

There weren't any and with a grateful sigh, Kratos pulled himself a little higher, eyes still locked on his student who was walking through the gates, accompanied by two others.

Sequoia was proving to be quite useful since their return to Sybak...she was the only way he could get the half-elves they found to believe that he was trying to help them.

Everyday, after the class he taught was over, he and Sequoia would fly from town to town, looking for any half-elves that might need shelter. She had been surprisingly eager to help, willingly learning to fly a Rheiard to travel from place to place…and extremely laid back about the fact Kratos had wings.

He hadn't intended to show her them, but for her protection, they were sharing a house and she had caught him with them freed one evening. Since then she had been even more attentive and helpful, apparently believing Kratos to be an actual holy being…which he had repeatedly told her he was not.

A flicker of movement on the plains, just ahead of where the trio were walking caught his eye and he flattened his wings slightly, allowing himself to fall into a dive towards it, hoping he was being paranoid and it was actually just a rabbit…he wasn't keen on fighting a large group of Saloth'sarians any time soon. His wound had only just healed as it was.

A ripple of copper and the glint of metal told him he was wrong and with a grunt of exertion, he pulled himself out of his dive, pivoting and heading back to Sequoia and her two companions, hoping to warn them of the danger and change their course.

He flew low to the ground, skimming along it in an attempt to reach them faster, his wings straining silently as he glanced over the top of the cliff he was using for cover.

There!

Three shapes moving across the field right towards the Saloth'sarian scouts and he pulled himself to the top of the ledge, landing heavily and running towards them, not wanting the new-comers to see his wings.

They were only a few metres away now, but the Saloth'sarian scout had called back to the main troops and they were rushing for the half-elves too. Growling, he freed his sword, gripping it tightly as he changed direction slightly, aiming _ahead _of Sequoia. If he could get there before the Saloth'sarians he could at least fight them off.

"Professor Aurion!" she called to him, happy, waving her arms to attract her attention before noticing that he wasn't looking at them he was looking at the three men running towards them. She threw her arms out suddenly, stopping the two other half-elves dead in their tracks. Too late.

She trotted backwards, watching in horror as the three soldiers closed in on her teacher.

There was silence for a moment, then murmuring as the men spoke and the Saloth'sarians were looking at them and Kratos was watching them too, a smirk twisting his lips as the soldiers approached.

"No! You…"

And the smirk had dropped and he was running towards the men who had turned to look at him, sword drawn, ready and dangerous.

They were blown away by his force in seconds, one thrown to the side, another knocked to the floor as Kratos pivoted, slicing cleanly into the chest of another. He turned back to the one he had thrown aside earlier, plunging his sword through the man's stomach as he charged him.

The final soldier was still on the floor, trembling by Sequoia's feet, staring up at Kratos in horror as he flicked the blood from his blade and strode towards him.

"Professor…please.." the words escaped her mouth without resistance, scared and quiet. Pleading. "Don't kill him…"

Garnet eyes rose to meet her own yellow gaze, hard and impassive. "Sequoia…this man would not think for a second about killing you…"

"Which is why I'm better than him….please, let him live."

"Gods you're just like Lloyd," he commented, rolling his eyes. The sword lowered nevertheless, letting the soldier scurry past him.

"Thank you." she bowed "Guys this is…"

He had turned, sword in hand again…but not just in hand…in the neck of the man he had just let go. The young soldier was still alive, barely, his sword raised high above his head with clear intentions of attacking the auburn haired man who had had his back to him.

Kratos jerked the sword back out of his throat, watching impassively as the young man fell to the floor, gasping as blood burbled out of his throat. He was dead a second later.

She gasped, a hand over her mouth, blinking back tears at the sight of the lifeless body as Kratos tore a piece of cloth from his uniform, wiping his blade clean with it before sheathing it, throwing the cloth back at the body carelessly.

"Sequoia…we need to move, quickly," his eyes turned to the two half-elves huddled behind her and he lifted his head slightly as he looked at them. "You two…what are your names?"

The girl, perhaps twenty years old shied away from him, keeping her eyes averted. The boy on the other hand, lifted his head to look Kratos in the eye.

"This is Amy," he gestured to the girl "I'm Coe."

"Your girlfriend?"

Coe nodded. "Good. Now I assume you don't want her to die."

"Of course not what kind of question is that?!"

"It wasn't. Nevertheless, we need to get moving, so I suggest you move her…"

He turned back to the girls. "Sequoia…" she looked at him hesitantly "we need to go or we will be caught."

Gently, he tapped her on the shoulder. "It was necessary."

She nodded slowly.

"I know."

--

The outside of the safe-house was plain and unassuming. It seemed small and rundown…a place where a hermit would live perhaps, ivy crawling over the building. The garden, such as it was, was overgrown, the well was clogged with debris, the gate hanging on broken rusted hinges, the black wrought iron fence now orange-red and crumbling.

Kratos walked quietly to the door, Sequoia by his side and he knocked three times. He scuffed a piece of moss from the cracked stone path as he waited for the door to be answered.

It swung open, spilling warm light onto the garden in the darkening evening sky, bathing the guests on the doorstep in yellow.

Colette greeted them with a warm smile. "Hey Kratos, Sequoia. New guys?" she nodded to the two half-elves who hung awkwardly behind.

Kratos nodded "From Meltokio."

The blonde smiled brightly and stepped out of the doorway, allowing a way in and Kratos ushered the three half-elves inside, glancing around before shutting the door behind him.

"Lloyd's here," Colette informed him as he locked the wooden door "He got back about half an hour ago…I think he's got good news for us." She bounced cheerily on the balls of her feet her hands clasped.

Kratos smiled lightly, unable to bring himself to tell the excited girl that this early on it was unlikely to be good.

"He's in the back room," she pointed to the assigned room, despite the fact Kratos already knew "Um…shall I get them settled in?"

"yes…I'll speak to Lloyd in the meantime."

"Ok…I'll be there when I'm ready." Kratos nodded, unstrapping the sword from around his waist and leaving it to hang near the door before navigating his way under the low ceilings to the room Lloyd was waiting in.

The wooden door creaked as he opened it, and the room it opened into was only dimly lit. Lloyd sat hunched over a table looking downcast.

"The news is that good is it?" Kratos asked, pulling the black cape of his shoulders.

"It's horrible in there."

"Well you didn't expect it to be pleasant, surely?"

"No but…I didn't expect to be ordering the workers around either."

"It's a small price to pay if we manage to accomplish our goal."

"Yeah…I know."

"What can you tell me Lloyd?"

Lloyd sighed heavily "Not much. I think we've made a little progress with the workers today, so they should be passing a good message on. Most don't believe yet though."

Kratos remained silent.

"No news of Raine and Genis yet though."

Kratos lowered his head, chewing on his lower lip. "It was bound to be too early to have made any real progress," he sighed eventually, running a hand through his hair. "Do we have any idea how long it will take for the majority of the slaves to trust us?"

Lloyd shook his head "There's no way to know if they've all heard. Regal is in contact with the higher ups, so he's going to listen out for news in like, the changes in the prisoners behaviour and stuff to see if that can give us a clue."

"I see."

"They'll be fine for a while, right? I mean it's the professor and Genis…they're always alright...always have been always will be…"

"I hope they can maintain that tradition." Tapping his chin, the seraph stared blankly at the far wall, lost in thoughts of the professor, hoping that the feeling of dread growing in the pit of the stomach wasn't a premonition.

* * *

So whadd'ya think? You know how to let me know. Hope it was good for you.

And now, I shall wish you a Happy Christmas and a Good New Year. I doubt I'll be updating before then (it's possible but unlikely) so I hope you have a good one and get what you want.

Now gimme my present and review, please.


	12. Lost Again

A.N: Hello, thanks for reviews, hope you all had a good christmas, here's the fic:

* * *

Lost Again  


14 days. Two weeks. A fortnight. Half a month. Dress it up as you like, call it what you want…however you referred to it, it would still feel like an eternity to Raine. Actually, it would probably feel like an eternity to _anyone _given the situation…being a prisoner was not the most mentally stimulating experience.

It was, however, an extremely emotionally draining experience…everyday left Raine feeling dull and hollow. The work was tedious, the day was long and the company was starting to grate at her nerves. Siofra was fine…but then, she only had to deal with the girl for maybe an hour a day. She appreciated her though. Most of the other prisoners were well past Raine's state of depression and had simply given up on the thought of escape.

There were a few who were being roused back into a decent mental state. Words of an escape plan were slipping through, whispers of a rebellion lead by an outside party that were infiltrating the organisation. Apparently, they were already here. Already working…but they needed the support of the prisoners.

Raine gave hers willingly, knowing somehow that it was her friends and that they would do everything to help the slaves escape.

The problem was…Raine was giving so much of herself now that she wasn't sure there would be much left of her to rescue in the end. And that wasn't _her _opinion. It was what all the other half-elves were saying…warning her not to get too involved, to give too much or she would lose herself.

She carried on regardless. She was nothing if not tenacious and she would see this through to the end, even if it did destroy her.

It wouldn't though…Raine would make sure of that. She wasn't the pathetic slip of a girl that everyone thought she was. She was Professor Raine Sage. She had been confronted with oppression and racism before and not once had she crumbled. This would be no different. You didn't face Yggdrasill and win by being some slip of a girl.

Or so she told herself.

If she was honest…she was starting to rely on her brother more and more for the support she needed to go on with. He was younger, hopeful and enthusiastic. Hell, he wasn't just that, he was actively showing a nihilistic side that Raine hadn't seen before.

Raine had no doubt that Kratos and the others would get her out but she was beginning to doubt herself.

She shook her head and stood, hearing the guards by the door getting ready to unlock. '_Trained' _sprang to mind.

No. Not trained, just eager to start preaching to the masses again, instilling the sense of hope that was needed.

Raising her head, she painted on her look of determination that she knew everyone needed to see and waited patiently for the guard to unlock her door, before she strolled out of her cell, her supporters gathering around her, ready to show their quiet resistance to the system.

--

"Do you intend to do anything today Genis? Or are you just going to sit there?" Raine asked, a little irritably. The boy had been sat there doing nothing since they had arrived, just staring blankly at the hatch that usually contained the mana of the half-elf that powered the project. Usually. He or she wasn't there today and they lack of that familiar mana was oddly disconcerting.

"I've told you, Raine. I refuse to work for a project that'll end in the destruction of our race…"

"Genis if you don't work they'll find out and…"

"And what?"

"…I wouldn't like to think of the consequences."

Genis brushed a piece of dirt from his grey clothes, resuming his blank stare at the wall.

"…These are not people we can afford to push, Genis."

"They're not people." He muttered in return.

"Be that as it may, they do have the power to kill us and if you want to help every other half elf in here then you need to survive."

"But Raine…"

"I know Genis," she sighed, putting a clipboard down on the desk "I know…we need to find out if there've been any advancements in the project…can you go and find out?"

"But that's…"

"Necessary. We need to know how much time there is before the project is complete."

Snorting, Genis slid from the table, pacing over to the door and glancing through the glass panel for any signs of guards before slipping out into the adjoining work areas.

Raine rubbed a hand through her hair slowly as she turned back to her work. So much for getting support from her little brother, he was becoming more and more argumentative everyday. She had no doubts that if the guards found that Genis wasn't working, there would be some heavy punishment…

Silence reigned without her brother's presence and Raine lifted her eyes to the ceiling as if searching for a god before going back to scanning the complicated list of symbols representing mana signatures of half-elves, comparing them with the list of genetics for each person.

There was certainly a pattern emerging but she wondered how long she could keep that quiet for, how much time she could buy for her race. She had to admit, Genis had a point with refusing to work…the humans couldn't complete this project on their own, they _needed_people who could sense mana signatures and had the intelligence to know what to do with the information they got from it. At the moment, there appeared to be only two…her and Genis and with one refusing to work, it meant progress was painfully slow for them.

A loud crash broke Raine out of her thoughts suddenly and she jumped to her feet immediately, crossing the room to look through the glass door within a few seconds. There was nothing in the corridor immediately outside the lab, and she pressed herself against the door, trying to open it quietly and slip through.

She took a left once out, slipping into the lab where the crashing had come from, jogging to the main part of the room to investigate.

It was a mess, in short.

Blood was spilt over the floor, broken glass scattered over the white tiles, pages of data soaking up the blood.

And in the midst of it all were two half-elves. She didn't recognise the older one but there was no mistaking the silver hair of the young man that was pushing himself to his feet, blood staining his uniform.

It was a relief to see that it wasn't his blood, but that of a tray of samples the other half-elf had been carrying before…whatever had happened, happened.

It wasn't however, to know that after 5 years the youth had still not outgrown his amazing ability to trip over either nothing, or himself.

"What the hell?"

Raine spun towards the source of the question, identifying it one of the two guards from the lab's entrance, being drawn in by the commotion. Tensing, she looked to Genis, motioning for him to slip down one of the rows of cubicles and muttering apologies to the scientists left behind as she followed him, ducking below the level of the desk.

"Who's responsible for this?!...Own up now and we might make things a bit easier for you…"

Raine winced as she bumped into Genis who had stopped and turned, clearly having decided that now was the appropriate time to grow a backbone and admit that it was his fault.

Him. He who wasn't even supposed to be in this area.

She glared, sending him another gesture to get back down and keep moving. When he failed to do so Raine pulled her brother to the floor, grabbed him by the ear and proceeded to pull her the boy along after her, twisting his ear when he started to complain.

With one hand occupied as it was, she found she had great difficulty pulling the heavy door open whilst crouched and while struggling against her brother.

Eventually, she managed to pull him out into the corridor, glancing around for anymore guards before taking a firmer hold of her brother by the front of his shirt, dragging him into the lab before roughly releasing him.

Wordlessly, Genis turned, marching straight for the door again and it took all Raine's effort to swing him around so that she was standing between him and the entrance again.

"Raine! Don't you understand that those people are going to suffer if I don't own up?!"

She slapped him, hard, across the face, an action she hadn't had to resort to for some years now.

"Don't you understand that if they find out you were in there when you were supposed to be in here _and _that you caused that accident you'll be in for a lot worse?"

He glanced to the door, eyes widening slightly as his sister stepped forwards, cupping the cheek she had just slapped in her hand, the coolness of it taking away the heat radiating from the reddened cheek.

"I can't lose you Genis…I can't lose the only family member I have because he wants to act irrationally. I won't let you go in their and sacrifice yourself…"

"Uh, Raine…"

"What?"

"You know…that's very touching," the voice was slow, the words drawn out deliberately for effect. Raine felt her stomach twist itself into a knot, a lump of anxiety rising into her throat as she recognised the voice. Her eyes flicked up to meet her brother's, scared and subdued now, and she turned slowly, cursing herself for being so wrapped up in anger that she hadn't heard the door opening…hadn't sensed the presence of the guard that had followed them into their lab.

"…but it's a punishable action anyway…" the guard continued.

"No." Her voice wavered on the single syllable, scared for her brother.

The guard laughed "It's not like you have a choice here 1017. 1018 has broken a law of this camp and must be punished…you're lucky I'm not going to do anything to you for harbouring him."

"You can't…"

"No,_sweetheart _I can." He strode forwards, drawing a beating stick out of its loop, holding it loosely in his hand as he stood in front of her.

"Raine…just let me go, I'll be fine and there's no point in you getting hurt too…"

"There's every reason, Genis!" she stated, pushing him backwards and she back peddled.

"You're really too sweet, aren't you 1017?"

The guard turned to the door, calling the guard waiting outside in for back-up. The other man grinned in response, bursting into the room eagerly, a whip already drawn in his hands.

"We've got a protective older sister," the first guard stated.

"A sister!? Wow…I mean, a woman, how….pathetic…"

She growled low in her throat. She wasn't just a woman…she was Raine Sage and she was going to lead these half-elves out of here, along with her brother.

Raine sank back slightly, her muscles tensing, waiting for the guard to approach her. His hand closed roughly around her bicep and a second later he found himself thrown to the floor, staring up at the ceiling as his partner was attacked.

It was a scene he would've found funny, if it weren't for the sudden, blinding pain in his crotch from the boy.

And then there was a sharp crack, the sounds of a struggle stopped and… "Raine!!"

He climbed to his feet, shakily, glaring at the boy who suddenly shrank away- his eyes locked onto the form of his sister, hanging in the other guards arms.

Genis watched in horror as the silver hair around Raine's crown turned red as she dangled in the guards arms. She was conscious…just about anyway, hazy, her senses dulled, but she was still aware of the fact that something, and she didn't know what, was about to happen to her brother.

So she continued to struggle, paddling through clouds of fog, her head being lifted slowly under her own will…stubborn as always.

Genis smiled…he wouldn't have her any other way and the smile turned into a grin even as his arms were pinned behind him by the other guard and he was dragged towards the door.

It pained him to see his sister in such a state but he knew that she was the only person in this place who had the presence to inspire the other captives, to rouse them to the state of hope they needed to escape.

He stretched forwards in the guards arms, calling out to her in the Elven language giving the final bit of hope and reassurance he could before he was taken away.

He didn't know how long it would be before he'd see her again and without a second thought about he cried to her as he was pulled out the door.

"Love you, sis!"

And for once he wasn't embarrassed to say it in front of other people.

--

She was dropped onto the floor, she knew that much, but all she could think of at the moment was that he was gone. She had lost him. Again.

This time though, she wasn't sure he'd be coming back and she wished she'd called back to him, replied to his statement of love for her.

There wasn't much she could do at the moment though. Her head was throbbing and she was only vaguely aware of her guard muttering something about 'checking on her', the words thick and nearly senseless through the pain.

Raine closed her eyes, breathing heavily, feeling hot liquid on her scalp but not having the presence of mind to care as she felt her senses dull and her consciousness creep away.

--

It was grey, and it wasn't her lab. It was her cell.

Raine jerked awake, eyelids heavy with sleep as realisation dawned on her, lucidity slapping her in the face despite the head wound she knew she had sustained yesterday.

"Hey…" Raine turned her head sharply to the girl that was sitting beside her, wishing she hadn't when nausea crashed over her. "Up and at 'em."

"…Siofra….what time is it?"

"Uh…morning? You've been unconscious since yesterday. A couple of the guards brought you in with that injury…said something about you fighting them…"

"Yes, yes…I did…attack one of the guards," she smiled half-heartedly at the pink-haired girl.

"Nice one but uh…why?"

"…Genis…they took Genis and it's my fault…if I hadn't said anything the guard wouldn't have overheard and…"

"Hey!" she looked up at the sharpness in Siofra's voice, unused to the shrill tone "None of that attitude, remember? We're not allowed to dwell, gotta move forwards."

"But…"

"Your brother will be fine…remember how you told me my little sister would be OK when I was worried about her being on her own?"

"Yes but…"  
"Raine Sage, get up and face the day with me. You won't help your brother by sitting here, and from what you've told me of him, he wouldn't let you do it either. Did he tell you to sit here and mope?"

"...he told me that he loved me…"

"And.?"

"…he told me to get everyone out of here and keeping working at the plan…"

"So that's what we've gotta do then."

A hand gently tugged at her bicep and Raine pulled herself to her feet, letting Siofra steady her once again.

"Let's get through another day Raine, go for it once again…"

"…with feeling." Raine murmured, finishing Siofra's motto and the young woman smiled.

"Exactly."

--

With feeling. That was a joke, Raine thought, sitting at her desk and finding herself staring blankly at her blood on the tiled floor of the lab.

She stood, sighing, walking to the hatch containing the nameless half-elf battery, noting distantly that the purple-blue light of the mana was spilling out into the white room again, meaning that he, or she, at least was alive. It was odd that they kept taking it away and bringing it back though.

Maybe they were on their last legs.

Raine certainly felt like she was and she returned to her chair to stare idly at the list she had been working on before the events of yesterday, endless columns of numbers and symbols spilling down the page, black ink marring the white surface.

It was a boring job usually, but today Raine found it…Monotonous? Tedious? Mind-numbing? She didn't think there was a term strong enough to describe it at the moment.

Genis would've found something…Genis would've found a way to make the work seem less pointless and wearisome. But he wasn't here now. Obviously.

She leant her head back, staring at the clock on the wall that she had never noticed before today, watching as the second hand fell again and again, fulfilling its duty.

Tick.

She blinked.

Tock.

She breathed out.

Tick.

She breathed in.

Tock.

She lost the will to live.

--

Back in the cell. Again.

Raine did nothing more than curl herself into a ball on the bed, wrapping her arms around her legs, staring at the wall as cold tears escaped eyes she didn't realise were wet. They ran unchecked, unseen…nearly unnoticed.

* * *

Button pushing time! Please? Tell me what you think of this chapter and...stuff. 


	13. Specimen

A.N: Ok, this is chapter...12? Something like that anyway, so we're a good way through the ficcy now (if you wanted a progress report) as always thanks for the reviews...although I think it may have been 'review' as in singular here, but oh well.

Now, as for this chapter, I know I've been following the sort of pattern of - Raine chapter, other character chapter, Raine chapter. etc - but this one is another Raine chapter because I really wanted to get this particular part of the fic done. Also because due to the time scale, there wasn't a lot else for the other characters to do/ report on.

So here she is, Raine in all her wonderment, once again. Read on.

* * *

Specimen

She had thought the days couldn't go any slower than they were 2 days ago. Now she knew she was wrong.

Since the loss of Genis, days ceased to exist, blending into meaningless periods of time that had no direction, no use and no sense of reality. The working hours were spent on her own in the lab, reading through endless reams of paper, making pointless notes and assessments. Constantly watched over by two guards now, who served as a helpful reminder of the fact that she had to work for her brother's safety.

Raine had been told repeatedly, that her brother was well, if not comfortable and happy, and would remain in such a state of safety as long as she continued to work. Like she couldn't have worked that out for herself. What did they think she was a dullard?

She tossed her head slightly as she stared blankly at the shower wall, her fingers running along the wound on her head, wincing when she pressed a little too heavily. She pulled her fingers away to continue washing herself in the cold water that rained down on her body, and it suddenly ran hot. Boiling in fact, to such a degree that it scolded her skin.

She stood under the spray nevertheless, taking the pain along with the heat. It was only once a week that they got to shower and hot water was a rarity that should be taken full advantage of.

The water sputtered as she rinsed, turning cold again. The temperature fluctuated often…just like her emotions nowadays.

She found herself suffering through great periods of distress, fear and loneliness, terrified for herself as well as her brother and the rest of her race. There were other times, like right now, when she felt angry and it was a deep, dark anger that wanted to rage and rip, tear out the throats of her oppressors and she used that to fuel the plans for escape. It was what gave her the power to deliver those inspirational speeches that Lloyd was so good at.

And then…on occasion, she found herself calm and peaceful at long last. Those moments were few and far between, but she relished them, basking in the feeling of hope that she had tried to maintain for so long and was now crumbling around her in fits of anger or troughs of cold depression. It was in those moments that she allowed herself to dream and yearn and believe.  
She knew, no matter what, that her friends would come for her, but she often found herself doubting whether they would come quick enough to save a number that mattered…to save a percentage of her that mattered.

The water shut of suddenly and Raine stepped back, feeling for the towel to her side that she wrapped around herself, wishing that it was long enough to cover more than just the bare minimum. The guards in the corner of the room grinned lecherously at the women present, their eyes locking onto her in particular, knowing that she still had enough emotional response left to care, still had the presence of mind to scowl angrily at them and turn away, embarrassed and in equal parts enraged at her indecency in their presence.

She grabbed the spare towel hanging on a hook, one arm pressed across the top of the towel to stop it from coming undone as she reached up ever so slightly. The towel hem still lifted too high for her liking even with that tiny movement.

Staring at the rough cloth distastefully she sat down on one of the crude benches roughly drying her legs off, noting that the skin was left red and sore by the treatment but not having the presence of mind to care about her skin's condition at the moment as she proceeded to dry her arms, shoulders and face.

Her short hair hung wet in her face as she pulled on the rags they called uniform over the towel, before shimmying it off underneath the clothing, saving her some dignity. She slicked her hair away from her face, drying it roughly with the towel she had just had wrapped around herself before slicking it back crudely again with her fingers.

Lifting her head, Raine stubbed her feet into the flat shoes they provided, passing the towels she had used to a new girl who was clearly a little more than flustered at the presence of males in the women's shower room. She nodded at Raine gratefully, knowing who the professor was, knowing that this was the woman who was trying to rally the half-elves. The girl had already pledged her allegiance as it were, and was spreading that hope she had through the crowd at Raine's bidding.

Nodding back, Raine left the shower room, holding her head high as she strolled past the bathroom's guards, only to be met with two more faceless male soldiers. Her escorts.

These were the two that watched her when she was working, breathing down her neck and checking she was doing her job every five seconds. It was infuriating. It was like they thought she was willing to put her brother in danger just so that she could slack off.

They clearly didn't have a very good gauge on her personality.

Automatically, she turned down the usual corridor, the guards trailing behind her like she was the one in charge as she strode towards her work place. She had to smile at their behaviour. They were both fairly young and inexperienced, clearly not aware of how to treat a woman of her calibre and it was something that they other half-elves, filing into their respective work places noticed too. It was just another one of those little things that was slowly giving them hope.

Even as she just walked to work, she noticed there were more and more of her 'in-mates' acknowledging her, believing in her ideas instead of just thinking she was the crackpot escape artist that they had when she had first arrived here…and that was only 17 days ago. If they carried on at this rate, there would be a rebellion within a month of her arrival.

It wouldn't be a minute too soon in Raine's opinion. She just wanted to get the hell out of here with her brother and never look back.

She stepped into the elevator at the end of the long corridor she had just walked up, pressing the appropriate key for her floor before the guards were even in the box.

"Keen, aren't we?" One of them commented as the doors slid shut.

Raine didn't answer initially, knowing that she could only give a sarcastic comment that would result in her being beaten at the moment.

"Well?" the guard prodded.

Raine turned a cold glare on him, before swallowing back sarcasm and answering. "I'm merely trying to keep my brother safe."

He accepted that easily enough and turned away from her, chatting to his colleague as the lift travelled up to their floor, barely noticing that when it stopped Raine was out in seconds and striding through the labs.

They jogged to keep up, and Raine smiled at another half-elf scientist in the lab, well aware of how it looked to have two human guards trotting behind her like wayward puppies. The guards sent the lab worker a cold glare and he scampered away under the pretence of being intimidated. Raine knew better. He was going to spread the gossip to the other scientists.

Pushing the glass door to her lab open, Raine's eyes automatically scanned the hatch for the half-elf it contained. Not there again. His or her attendance was becoming more and more infrequent and the mana given off was starting to feel…thin.

Frowning slightly, she sat down at her usual place, gathering her papers from the day before, spreading them in front of her and picking up a pen, resuming her work.

--

There was something different. Something about the customarily random markings that made Raine sit-up and take note of what they actually meant.

There was a pattern emerging and it would only take the humans a second to figure out what it meant if they caught sight of it.

Raine cursed, glancing over her shoulder at the two guards who were lost in their own conversation and then back to the work, wondering if there was a way she could hide it….or make them think it wasn't important. The markings were obvious though…their placement, the repetition of certain symbols…all of which the Saloth'sarians had come up with themselves. It was their own private language that they were using, that the two guards behind her were using, the language that kept their secrets secret.

Of course, it had become apparent to Raine some time ago that their language wasn't really all that original…it was actually just a removed dialect of the Angelic Language…and had Raine paid closer attention to that fact, she would've realised just what the point of the project she was being made to work on was a lot earlier.

Chewing her lower lip, she scribbled a note onto the paper before standing abruptly, papers in hand. The soldiers turned at the sudden movement, questioning.

"I need to pay a visit to the bathroom," Raine informed them, shuffling the papers.

"No. You stay here and work."

"In that case you're going to have an awful mess on your hands. I'll ask you again to escort me to the bathroom."

The guard jumped off the desk, approaching her, his companion watching smugly.

"Why?"

She dropped her eyes, shifting slightly, hoping that her plan would work and that she was reading these soldiers who were little more than boys correctly.

"Why do people usually need the bathroom."

"Feh. You can hold it."

"…this isn't the sort of bathroom needing situation that you can just 'hold'"

"Look sweetie, I need to go too but I'm not allowed to leave so you can and will hold it."

"How would you know? You're male." She snapped and the guard stepped back, glancing at the floor.

"Oh…you mean?..."

She nodded, smiling condescendingly.

"Uh…yeah, right…in that case I guess…" he looked to the other guard who nodded almost frantically. "Yeah sure, I'll uh, take you now…"

"If you insist…" She allowed herself to be led from the room, folding the papers, hoping they would mistake them for something else and not realise that she was taking the notes from the lab. The guards hurried along in front of her and she allowed herself a triumphant smile. They were so easily manipulated, bless them.

Wiping the smile, she slowed her pace freeing the top paper slightly noting how far she was from the door of the next lab.

One of the guards turned back, noting that she was trailing behind instead of striding ahead.

"What's up with you? Hurry up."

She continued her slow pace, watching with hidden amusement as he became uneasy and angry in equal measure.

Annoyed at her slow pace he walked behind her and shoved her to move.

Raine used the momentum to fake a fall, swiping the top paper from the pile into her left hand. She threw it out to the side, pretending to use it to stop her from falling, trying to push it through the gap beneath the door to the lab.

"I barely touched you!" The guard snapped and Raine rolled onto her back, throwing her right hand to the side with the movement, fingers surreptitiously pushing the paper beneath the door. Task complete, she got to her feet, dusting herself off, hiding the rest of the papers under her arm in feigned embarrassment.

"Just…walk." He ordered, pointing her in the appropriate direction. She slid into the bathroom, the guards standing inside, hiding the notes inside a pocket on the inside of her uniform, and staring in the mirror, waiting for an appropriate amount of time before exiting, hoping that the scientists would have the sense to destroy the paper.

--

Raine tapped the pencil lightly against the remaining notes, her mind wandering from the task at hand as worry gnawed at her stomach. Had the other scientist found the top page of notes? Had they been destroyed? Had they fallen into the wrong hands?

There was only one of those questions that would be answered anytime soon and if it was…that was very very bad. It would mean that—

"Atten-tion!"

Raine jumped at the voice, spinning in her chair to look to the door. Her escorts jumped to their feet, standing stiffly at the presence of the disturbingly large man standing in the doorway.

"This is the lab of subject 1-0-1-7, correct?"

"Yes, sir."

"Is she working on the mana signature area of the project?"

"Yes, sir…" and there was a confused edge to the guard's voice this time.

"Good. I'm in the right place."

He stepped into the room, letting the door swing shut behind him and walking slowly over to the half-elf, his gait attempting to be intimidating. Raine would've rolled her eyes at the exaggerated machismo if the situation hadn't been quite so dangerous.

Arms held behind his back, he stood in front of Raine looking down at her.

"1-0-1-7…Ms…?"

"_Professor_Sage."

He smirked at the edge in her voice. "Professor Sage…have you lost anything of value recently?"

"Apart from my brother, no."

"Is that so?..." he rummaged for something behind his back before bringing out a crumpled piece of paper. "Are you sure?...because I'm fairly certain that this is familiar and very, very valuable to someone in your position."

'_Gods…'_

It was her notes. Her handwriting…and someone else's blood spattered over it.

"We find it curious that you claim to care about your brother's safety and yet you try to sabotage our project…which is clearly against our agreement, Professor."

She scowled but refrained from answering.

"It's very fortunate," the man continued "That you're just so important to this project otherwise this…" he pointed to the blood "would be yours. As it is, there is someone who would like to meet you due to your outstanding work in this field...and it would be very unwise to decline," he warned, shoving the paper into her hands.

She lay it on the desk and looked back up at him. "Since I don't have a choice…take me to them…"

"Clever girl."

He seized her unceremoniously under her arm, dragging her through the corridors of the laboratory and Raine helplessly trotted beside him, unable to pull away.

She locked eyes with one of the workers in the lab as she was dragged past the window, noted the look of shock and panic that was forming on his face.

Her new guard tugged forcefully, throwing her into the elevator and pressing the button for the level up from the labs, somewhere which she heard was where the 'important' guests would meet the leader of this place.

The lift slid up smoothly, opening into a long glass and chrome corridor that was ornately decorated. The floor was tiled, but with polished white tiles that looked classy, not the half scuffed, half glossy flooring of the rest of the building. A red carpet ran the length of the corridor, potted tropical plants placed by the windows at perfect intervals, lights hanging from the ceiling casting a soft glow in the corridor.

The guard resumed his hold under her arm, pulling her left and she noted there was another elevator opposite the one they had just come up in. An access point to the male housing areas no doubt.

He was dragging her along the tiles, not the carpet, as if she would ruin the expensive decoration by stepping on it and it was with a look of disdain that he opened the double door at the end of the corridor so that she stepped through before him.

The doors opened into yet another corridor, this one just as pristine as the former…but this one offered a hell of a view…and the guard let her dawdle as she took in the sights when they had reached the centre of the corridor.

They were suspended in mid-air, the corridor being a tunnel that led to an extraordinarily large white building that was a cross between a mansion and a castle. Either way, it was grandeur and no doubt it housed an extremely wealthy person.

The rest of the view was dull. Brown walls of rock and roots hanging from the overhead wall of the cavern the entire organisation was housed in. Purple blocks of stone were still set into the walls, adding the odd dash of colour…remains the base of the Tower of Salvation's architecture.

A flash of grey caught her eye as she looked back towards the bland building she had been housed in for the past 17 days…an exercise yard, from the looks of it…two actually, one on each side.

"Enough dawdling, you don't want to keep your host waiting."

He tapped her on the shoulder and Raine moved of her own accord, walking beside him now instead of being dragged along, her interest just about peaked by the bizarre building ahead.

Glass doors up ahead slid open silently at their approach and they stepped through into yet another corridor…exactly the same as the two before…except there were two doors down the far end. The soldier directed her to one, following her in, and Raine found herself in another shower room. Except this one was larger and cleaner and considerably more private.

"There are shower stalls over there," the guard pointed to an area around a corner "Shower quickly. There are clothes left for you around there…and try to make yourself look somewhat presentable."

He turned, walking out and closing the door behind him. Raine got the distinct impression that he was waiting outside the door.

Stepping around the corner she found the shower stalls, fully private and with constant hot water no doubt. She was hesitant as to whether she should really be doing this…but then, she didn't have a choice anyway and she finally stepped into the shower, washing herself with decent products for the first time in nearly three weeks, her mind racing constantly at the thoughts of what was going to happen next. Whatever it was, this 'being made to look presentable' business was un-nerving. Whoever she was meeting knew she was a slave so surely she was expected to be in a rough condition?

Frowning, she rinsed off, and stepped out of the shower. The room was warmed to such a degree that she didn't so much as shiver at the water clinging to her skin.

There were large, white towels laid out on a table in front of her. Soft, fluffy cloths that didn't grate and scratch her skin as she dried herself, and she performed the motions of drying herself a little longer than was necessary. Whether it was out of a desire to put off the meeting or whether it was because it would be a while before she could relish in this 'luxury' again, she didn't know. Perhaps it was a little of both.

Either way, despite the fear and uncertainty of what was about to happen, she was glad of the change. It was doing her mental state some good to have some variation.

Throwing the towels into a basket, Raine turned back to the table and grabbed the white clothes laid out for her and she examined them before dressing. They were plain, just a skirt and a shirt, but they were a vast improvement from the usual rags and she pulled them on, feeling uncomfortable about the lack of underwear. Then again, she probably would have felt more uncomfortable if they had known what size to provide her with.

Turning to the mirror, she examined herself properly, checking the wound on her scalp first before taking a hesitant look at her face.

She wasn't in as bad a state as she had expected, but there were obvious signs of maltreatment lining her face. Her eyes were surrounded by grey circles from lack of sleep…they hadn't yet had the chance to mature and darken to black, but she was sure that would follow eventually, and the cut on her cheek that she had received when she had fought against the Saloth'sarians at their first encounter had left a red scar on her cheek where it had healed. She pressed her fingers to it, noting it was slightly tender, as she thought back to that day.

'_Why did I have to decide to go to Exire? It's nothing to do with me anyway…except for mother…'_

She flinched a little. She hadn't thought of her deceased mother since she had arrived here….but then again, she hadn't had a massively emotion reaction to her death when she had first found out anyway. The only thing she had thought of since arriving here was escape, Genis and…Kratos.

He had fought to try and protect them that day and she had to wonder how he was coping with the idea that he hadn't been able to. Badly, knowing Kratos. In fact Raine was fairly certain that the seraph was mentally torturing himself over the fact that he hadn't been able to protect the people he had admitted to caring about.

She sighed, pushing herself away from the mirror, brushing a few strands of short hair into a style that resembled the old one…the one she had been sporting when she met him and she found that it took some the harshness of oppression from her face.

With little else to do, she walked away from the mirror and to the front door of the bathroom, stopping just before she reached to open it. There was a distinctly unsettling feeling that had just hit her…like someone was watching her.

Raine turned, scanning the room with her eyes before opening the door slowly. It wasn't just paranoia kicking in…there was definitely something there.

"You took your time." The guard stated, reclining against the wall next to the door.

"Well I'm done now."

"So I see…follow me. The Leader awaits your arrival."

--

He sat in front of the screen, submerged in darkness, staring at the image of the half-elven woman as she dressed.

"A perfect specimen."

He smiled, turning away to get ready to greet his new 'guest'.

--

It was extremely elegant, Raine thought, standing in the room she was to meet 'The Leader' in, taking in every detail of the room…but it wasn't anything personal or original. It was as if it had been decorated according to what the commissioner thought other people would approve of upon seeing it.

Cream walls bordered with mahogany, a plush mahogany carpet and matching furniture…a desk at one end of the room, a coffee table and sofas set before that. Richly coloured tapestries hung on the wall, interspersed with oil paintings that all bore the same type of scenes. Angels dying.

Images of men, women and children, all blonde haired, pale and blue-eyed, all clad in white, all with a pair of swans' wings protruding from shoulder blades.

All bleeding and in pain, their bodies twisted and mutilated, and every pair of wings hanging by threads from their bodies, feathers scattered over the floor…and the background of every painting was bright and cheerful as if nothing malicious was occurring in the foreground.

Raine pulled her eyes away, not wanting to study the horrendous scenes any further…but they at least offered an insight into the character of this 'Leader'. He had a problem with half-elves, which evolved into angels given the right catalyst…hence the scenes of the holy beings being struck down…it didn't explain anything particularly new though.

A door creaked at the back of the office and Raine turned slowly to the door to the left of the desk, opening slowly to reveal a tall, thin man dressed in metallic blue, long black hair falling about his shoulders.

He seemed harmless. Raine knew better.

"Are you Ms. Sage?"

The voice was strangely strangled sounding, as if it were far deeper than the voice he naturally had and was trying to change people's opinion about him…deceive them with the first impression.

"I am." She answered hesitantly, forcing her voice through vocal chords that were tight with nerves, hoping the waver she felt inside wouldn't be portrayed in her voice.

It wasn't, fortunately, but she wasn't sure how long that strength and confidence in her voice would last under the pressure of the situation.

"So you're our head researcher? Impressive. It is rare to meet someone with such intelligence as to be able to cope with the task you're undertaking."

"You make it sound like it's difficult work…"

"Is it not?"

Raine bit her lip before answering. "Only in the sense that it is a rather…wearisome task."

"I see. Well then, I'm sure the next step in the project will be far easier for you to complete then, since you've already completed the original task. It is commendable that you've achieved it in such a short space of time, but I'm confused, giving the 'wearisome' nature of the work that you did not report your findings straight away."

"I like to have the chance to double check my work before submitting it," she lied, holding slightly trembling hands behind her back.

The Leader mirrored her stance as he walked further into the room, his steps stunted and hurried, like that of a small child. Every physical attribute seem to play to the idea that he was harmless and helpless…child-like almost. It was strange that the language he chose to use was anything but.

"I see. It isn't because you disagree with the nature of the work then…"

"Why should I? I have no knowledge of what the purpose of the project is."

"You're brother seems to know."

"…My brother is quick to jump to conclusions. He's young and sometimes brash within his actions."

"So you're telling me that you and he haven't worked out the true purpose of the tasks we are setting, and have passed the information onto your …in-mates."

She swallowed thickly, mind racing to come up with a convincing come back…but the Leader was already smirking.

"I've been aware of you for sometime, Raine and it is impossible for a woman of your intelligence and calibre not to be curious as to the purpose of the tasks you've been set. I'm not overly concerned about the fact you know either, as long as _you_keep working. Your brother clearly isn't going to comply."

Raine didn't reply as the man walked further into the room, all too aware of his proximity to her…and the electricity in the air about him, the smell of wind that he gave off.

"Do you realise what the language that the Saloth'sarians speak is?"

"…It's a dialect of the Angelic Language."

He smiled, nodding. "Yes…it is called 'Lothlorne' and it means…"

"Pure tongue…the pure language."

"Correct. The project you are working on is named the Loras project…or the 'Purification' project."  
"It's genocide."

"Ethnic cleansing, is the appropriate term, I think you'll find."

Raine scoffed "It doesn't matter what you call it, it's still mass murder."

"All for the better." He waved a hand vaguely at her accusation, still approaching her slowly, his hand playing with a strand of loose hair that hung in his face.

She caught the action, noting that the roots of his hair weren't black…they were dark green.

"I'll let you in on a little secret Raine," and he tilted his hand and put a finger to his lips in a mocking act of a child telling their friend something. "Saloth'sar means 'Angel Death'…or rather the 'Pure beings death' and it was the old name for what the chosen goes through upon their trials. Or used to go through, as things now stand."

"…Angel toxicosis."

"If that's what you wish to call it now, yes."

"And the Loras project, if successful will kill every half-elf with the symptoms caused by Angel Toxicosis. Except they won't become angels or even just lifeless beings. They'll just die."

He nodded again, worryingly close now and Raine felt herself tense even as her senses told her that something about this human was…off.

"And what do you gain from killing all half-elves?"

"Just piece of mind. Half-elves are disgusting creatures that soil our…sorry, _my, _beautiful planet. After all, you're a half-elf, it doesn't belong to you."

Raine scowled disgust evident on her face but now her senses were screaming at her to take note of what they were trying to tell her what was wrong with this man as he stopped in front of her.

Mana was pouring from him, the smell and feel almost over whelming, and it was telling her he was old, very old in fact.

"From the look on your face Raine, I think you've just realised something about me…and you understand my predicament with that knowledge, yes?"

"You're…"

He reached up to his hair by the side of his ear, pulling the hair back to expose the smooth curve of it…but it wasn't a smooth curve, not if you looked close enough. There was no folding at the top of the ear like there should have been on a human, no extra curve to catch the air…but there was scarring, a terrible amount that completely marred the flesh. Surgical scars…or at the very least, cosmetic.

"I removed the elven points of my ears…they gave away my race far too easily. Half-elven ears are quite bad at that…"

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why are you trying to exterminate your own race!?" She asked, the clues fitting into place. The dyed hair covered up the fact that he was of half-elven blood and so did the cutting of the ears. The voice and manner of movement were a cover-up too, removing the characteristic elegance that permeated the elven blood.

"That's not for you to worry about. All you need to do is note down my mana signature and scurry back to your lab and find a way to guard me from that bomb."

"Buildings usually do that. Lead is a good one too." she spat.

He laughed, coldly. "Raine, I wouldn't have a weapon made if it only killed half of the people it was intended to. The mana that powers the project is from a wonderful specimen. His mana signature is linked to every half-elves in the world, due to his age and that means, it is related to mine and the bombs tracking device would find and kill me."

Raine stared back at him, letting the information sink in.

"Now," He reached out for her suddenly, catching her chin in his hand and forcing her to look at him. "You go back to that lab and you find a way to either turn me completely human or otherwise protect me from that bomb or your brother will be turned into a test subject for it immediately." He patted her cheek, releasing her.

"How am I supposed to turn you human?"

"There have been humans who've added elven blood to their own, essentially turning themselves into half-elves in the past….I'm sure you'll find a way to do the opposite."

"How do you know…"

He snapped his fingers and called for the guard, cutting off her question as the guard came in to collect her. The Leader turned his back, walking back towards the door he had entered in.

"Make sure Ms. Sage is returned to her lab and that she gets to work immediately. I have a feeling we're on a bit of a tight schedule."

* * *

Hope all the talking wasn't too dull for you. As always, please, please, please review...I'm desperate for some feedback here. 


	14. Plans

A.N:Again thank you for reviews. Greatly appreciated yada yada yada.

Nothing to say really.

Enjoy.

* * *

Plans

Kratos paced around the small living room of the safe-house, arms held behind his back, hands wringing unconsciously. It had been 4 days since he'd seen Lloyd and he and Colette were now waiting for him to arrive. Hopefully, he would arrive in the next half-hour.

Striding to the small, paned window he stared out into the overgrown garden, watching the half-elves that he and Colette had recruited and/ or rescued, as they wandered around outside. Many of them were simply here for refuge from the threat of the Saloth'sarians, but there were some that were willing to rage against the organisation and that was at least better than nothing.

The seraph sighed heavily, knowing they were going to need more if they wanted to make a decent charge on the Saloth'sarians. They didn't have to be able to win…just buy some time whilst the captives escaped.

Walking to the door, he stepped outside into the weak sunlight that was filtering through the trees, nodding to the few half-elves that had enough nerve to smile at him or offer some form of acknowledgement. Most lowered their eyes and pretended they hadn't noticed him, still afraid of the angel. It was only because of Sequoia that most of them were here in the first place.

Speaking of whom, the girl was sat in the corner of the garden, plucking blades of grass from the floor whilst speaking to the ex-chosen. From what he had overheard from their conversations before, Sequoia's sister had been captured when Exire had fallen and she was now discussing the likelihood of seeing her again.

Kratos shook his head, hearing the blonde girl assuring her that her sibling was still alive. She might well be. But she might not…and Kratos found it to be a bad idea to assure someone that a loved one was alive when they could well be dead. Sequoia was strong, but from the sounds of it, if she lost her sister, it would break her.

Noishe yipped suddenly, startling the people present and several of the particularly nervous half-elves scattered towards the house. Kratos eyed them as they huddled together near the door.

"Noishe…"

The protozoan yipped again, running to Kratos and then back to the gate. The seraph followed, pulling a sword belonging to one of the recruits had been using for training from the ground, holding it loosely. He could probably fight off whatever was coming relatively easily and Colette was on standby too.

One of the recruits, Coe, the young man from Meltokio stepped up to his side. He had proven to be a good fighter and he was surprisingly eager to prove himself further to the seraph.

Kratos nodded to him and Coe drew out his short sword.

The bushes at the edge of the clearing rustled, footsteps pounding through the forest and then the figure was bursting out from the greenery, skidding into the clearing, kicking up dust as he did.

"Lloyd," Kratos relaxed, throwing the sword aside, gesturing to Coe and the others to ease up, "You couldn't have sent any warning before hand?"

"Well sorry, but I'm kinda busy, you know?"

"But still…"

Lloyd shrugged "I'm just keeping you…what's the word…vigilant?"

"Hmm…"

"Hey Colette!" he lifted a hand, waving to his girlfriend who ran over to him, throwing herself into his arms.

"Lloyd! You're back. I'm so happy you're safe."

"Colette, I'll be fine. I'm in control there, remember? and I know I'm dumb, but I'm not dumb enough to let the plan slip."

"I know but I still worry for you."

He hugged her "You dork, there's no reason for you to."

Kratos rolled his eyes, heading back further into the boundaries of the cottage's garden.

"So, anyway, I'm going to make dinner now…do you want some?"

Lloyd nodded "Sure. I'll some and give you a hand in a minute, but I need to speak to Dad first."

Colette beamed, calling to the 'guests' that she was about to make a meal. A few stepped forwards, offering their assistance and Kratos nodded appreciatively at the sight. They were starting to trust Colette at the very least.

Kratos settled himself onto a log bench, Noishe curling up at his feet as Sequoia and Lloyd joined him.

"How many are here now?" Lloyd asked, clearly anxious to get on with the exchange of information. Kratos scanned the crowd in the garden.

"Maybe twenty."  
"That's not going to be enough!"

"I'm aware. But not all of these half-elves are willing to fight."

Lloyd ran a hand through his hair. "How many are?"

"Six, maybe seven. There are ten of us in total if you include myself, Colette and Sequoia." He gestured to the girl sitting beside Noishe.

"You're fighting too huh?" Lloyd turned to Sequoia and she nodded.

"Yeah, Professor Aurion is teaching me how to use a sword."

The young man grinned "Ouch, that's tough luck getting stuck with Kratos to teach you swordsmanship…"

Kratos scowled.

"…but at least you know you're getting the best teacher possible for it."

Lloyd grinned at his father, and the older man inclined his head slightly in silent thanks. The brunet took the gesture for what it was.

"Anyway…I suppose you want an update on the situation in Saloth'sar's base huh?"

"It would be useful Lloyd."

The boy shrugged. "S'going pretty well. The workers are on our side almost completely now and we're sure that the message has been spread through most of the camp. Regal was speaking with one of the higher ups…seems something's happened that's put all the half-elves we can't reach on edge. Half of them are panicking and half are starting to get a bit rebellious."

"As long as they don't put themselves or their in-mates in danger that's a positive sign…"

Lloyd nodded. "Yeah. Regal's trying to find out what's happened to stir them up. It was something about a scientist worker being taken to the leader or something but he couldn't get any more than that."

Kratos tapped his chin thoughtfully. "It sounds as though they've already established a leader of their escape on their own. If that person was taken away, it would cause an uproar."

"Bet it's the Professor."

"…It wouldn't be a surprise to learn that it was but…if that is the case, I fear for her safety."

"Dad, you know Professor Sage…she can handle herself."

"She's not impervious, Lloyd. Raine is an incredible strong and resourceful woman, that goes without saying but…even she can be broken if they find the right means."

"…You're not much for optimism, are you Professor?" Sequoia questioned, looking at her teacher. He smiled grimly.

"I merely prefer to have a realistic outlook….and optimism cannot always be a factor of that."

"Pessimist."

Kratos rolled his eyes, pulling himself up from the log.

"With the captives in their current state, they're only going to grow more agitated at the guards and be more willing to strike back as time passes," he stated, swapping back to the original conversation. "Which means that the opportune time to strike will be in a week or a fortnight."

"That's…not long."

"No, it isn't. Tomorrow we must continue our task of trying to gather more half-elves, but this time on a larger scale."

"How?"

"Each of us, myself, Colette and Lloyd, will take a group of half-elves to each continent. We visit every city and send our recruits out to try and gain more. Once we've completed that task we meet back at a designated area…"

"And then?"

"We repeat the process before you return to Saloth'sar, Lloyd."

"And we go with these guys," Lloyd gestured to the half-elves in the garden "to protect them from the humans and Saloth'sarians."

"Correct."

"Will that work?"

"We don't have a choice in this situation…"

Lloyd nodded. "Yeah."

"Sequoia. Can you inform the others of tomorrow's plan?"

The girl nodded "yeah but…"

"Next training session will be shortly after dinner…" the seraph gave a half smile at the girl, aware of just how eager she was to learn the ways of the sword.

Grinning she turned, walking into the crowd of half-elves in the garden.

--

Zelos sighed, running a hand through his hair as he scanned the crowd in the mess hall, grumbling when his fingers became tangled in a knot. He yanked his fingers through it roughly, no longer caring about the state of it.

Sheena rolled her eyes as she sat beside him, irritated by his incessant grumblings. She played idly with the bowl of soup in front of her, pushing her spoon around in the brown liquid and throwing a chunk of bread in. It swelled and sank.

17 days and counting since capture and the lack of activity was starting to grate on her nerves. She lifted her head, looking around the hall at the assembled tunnel diggers. They were talking quietly, animatedly and glancing back at her and Zelos before throwing their glances to Regal and Presea.

The project managers had taken to overseeing them during 'recreational' time. Basically it was an excuse to speak with them.

Regal jostled slightly in his seat, looking to Sheena and nodding. The ninja took the hint, tapping Zelos on the shoulder and quickly swallowing the soup before dumping the bowl on a tray and leaving, the red-head close behind.

He was already outside.

"Man, you move fast," Zelos commented, gesturing back to the mess hall.

"No time. I've discovered what has caused unrest among the half-elves that we're unable to contact."

"Well…"

"There is a project, a science project being conducted by the half-elves who are of a high enough intelligence to aid the project. I don't know the exact details, but the basic principle is to destroy the entire race of half-elves…"

"No wonder they're pissed but…"

Regal shook his head. "Most of the captives don't know about the nature of the project and we'd be better off keeping it that way until we really need to use that information."

"So if that's not got them rattled what has?"

"The head researcher of the project has recently met with the leader and is being forced to work on an extra area of the project or so I hear…"

"So what?"

"She is either refusing or unable to complete the task and the half-elves are looking to her to lead the escape. If she cannot complete the task, eventually she'll be killed."

"And they obviously don't want that to happen, so they're starting to freak out."

"Correct."

Zelos looked from Sheena to Regal and bit his lip. "Not to sound harsh but…why should we care? I know we shouldn't do the whole sacrificing thing and Lloyd would kill me to hear me suggest this but…if this half-elf chick dies, the captives go into over-limit on the anger scale and it makes it easier to get them to believe in us and get them out of here."

"Zelos you can't…!"

"Sheena, think about it! If we.."

"We cannot." Regal stated flatly, crossing his arms over his chest

"Why not?"

"Because the head-researcher, the leader of the escape plan that coincides with ours is none other than our Raine Sage."

--

Kratos beat his wings heavily as he perched on the spire of the Flanoir cathedral's spire, trying to hold himself in place as his feet slipped on the frosty roof. The spine offered an excellent vantage point for most of the town as well as the snow fields that lay beyond.

He scanned the white town quickly before turning back to look at the blue spire that stood between two snowy mountains far in the distance, a flag whipping in the artic wind emblazoned with a pair of broken swan's wings.

The angel scowled. It seems Saloth'sar had branches all over the world, just to make sure it captured all the half-elves it could. Or was there an ulterior motive?

He shook his head, bringing his view back to the town. It was an idea he could question later, when there weren't half-elves in potential danger. He had to admit though; it was brazen of the Saloth'sarians to commander the Renegade's former base and fly their flag from it. Admittedly people wouldn't actually be able to see it but…the fact that the Renegades had abandoned the Flanoir headquarters was greatly unsettling to Kratos. It made him question what had happened to Yuan…the man normally wouldn't stand for such an act.

A voice below caught his attention and Kratos looked down to see a group of 13 people gathering on the balcony that overlooked the city. Among them, he could just make out the violet hair of Sequoia and the raven black mop of Coe.

Coe was looking around clearly wondering where Kratos was and the seraph kicked off from the roof, sending snow scattering to the floor. He glided over the town, staying high to avoid notice before circling around to the gates, making his entrance by foot so as not to arouse suspicion. He walked quickly, springing up the steps, his eyes and ears on high alert for any sign of danger for the half-elves. With such a large group of them, it would be hard not to attract attention and as far as he knew, Sequoia and Coe were the only ones who could fight…not nearly enough to protect a group that size.

Pivoting he rounded a hairpin corner, knocking snow from a banister as he climbed a new set of steps.

"What are we waiting for?"

"Is there someone we're supposed to meet?"

"How do we know this ain't a trick?!"

The voices were rising, confused and scared by the situation and Kratos hurried, picking Sequoia's voice out among the crowd.

"Quiet all of you! Do you want to attract the attention of all the humans in this town?"

"But…"

"Hush! We have a contact, our…leader and he's going to get us out of here safely. He'll be here any sec…"

Kratos pulled himself up the final step, snow crunching loudly beneath his black boots as he strode towards the group.

Sequoia turned at the noise, smirking when she saw her teacher. "Speak of the devil. You have excellent timing, you know that?"

The ex-mercenary inclined his head, stopping between Coe and Sequoia who were heading the group. "Is this everyone who'll come?"

She nodded "Yes. That we could find, anyway. We've got eight new guys…right?"

Eight hands raised slowly and Kratos nodded. "That's something at least."

The half-elves that had joined previously moved away from the newcomers, clustering behind him so that he could get a look at them.

The red-head shrugged uncomfortably, not at ease with the idea of them standing behind him. Swallowing, he ignored it.

"How many of you are fully aware of the threat to your race?"

They murmured in response, all raising their hands. "Good. How many of you understand and believe in what Sequoia had, I hope, told you?"

Same response.

Kratos raked his eyes over the crowd. "How many of you are willing to fight?"

Five.

"Good. Everyone listen to this now," and the party behind him moved to face him as he spoke. "We can't afford to arouse suspicion so I want you to leave in groups of two or three for safety. Sequoia, Coe you go ahead now and wait outside the city to guide everyone to the appropriate place."

The two scurried off. "Now the rest of you, arrange yourself into groups…I want you three to go around the long way to the entrance." He pointed to a group and sent them hurrying off in the direction he had gestured to. "You two, do you know the back entrance to the city?"

Nods.

"Alright, go through that way then circle around to the entrance. Stay close to the city walls!...the rest of you, leave via alternating routes in your groups. You three, go after Sequoia and Coe now."

He instructed.

"What are you going to do Mr…?"

"Kratos. Just Kratos. I'll accompany the last group."  
"How are we getting off the continent?" Kratos waved a hand, silencing them.

"All in good time. Next group…"

--

"Wow!"

Lloyd dropped off his Rheiard before it had even descended fully, landing heavily beside his father who stood, gazing out at the large party before him.

Fifty or more Rheiards, carriages and even dragons stood around the enclosed area of the plain, a host of half-elves grouped in the middle.

"…How many?"

Kratos shrugged. "How many have you just brought?"

"Uh…fifty or so?"

They watched as the half-elves that had followed Lloyd descended, merging with the rest of the recruits.

"Then we have approximately one hundred newcomers."

"Will that be enough?"

"About two thirds of them are willing to fight. So that's roughly sixty-six." He sighed, rubbing his forehead "It could be."

"We've got tomorrow too. With me here at least."

"Yes…Lloyd, when you return to Saloth'sar find out the state among the captives and then send word to me asap. Scout out the amount of guards around the entrances, the amount in total…everything you can about the structure of the security."

"And then report back when I leave again?"

"Of course."

Lloyd grinned. "We're close aren't we?"

"Perhaps…if we can get enough half-elves and get create the arrangements and strategies for breaking in…then we might just be able to do it within two weeks."

The brunet turned back to the mass of half-elves in tandem with his father, raising his head and standing beside him as the older man called them to order.

--

In his cell, Genis huddled into a corner, curling himself up. Alone and wishing he had listened to Raine.

* * *

Ok so that ending didn't run as smoothly as I'd hoped. And not much happened in this chapter. And I added Genis in because I felt guilty for locking him in a cell and leaving him on his own.

On the plus side, I don't have any exams for about 2 weeks now so I might be able to get some decent, interesting stuff written as opposed to this almost filler-ish chapter.

Please push my button now.


	15. Corrosion

A.N: Welcome to chapter 14. Thanks for the reviews I've been recieving. Slightly longer chapter than normal. More important things to say, so take note.

**Warning: This chapter contains violence, mild suggestions of torture and scenes of attempted rape - relatively mild but still there.**

If the above issues don't concern you, please read on.

* * *

Corrosion

Tick. Raine sighed, tapping pencil against paper. Tock. She brushed a strand of greasy hair out of her face. Tick. The guard behind her shifted. Tock. Another minute of life was gone.

Raine rubbed her forehead as she sat at her desk in the silent lab, staring blankly at the paper that was covered in scribbles and equations, genetic codes and the human body. Blood types. Mana signatures. Theories on how Aionis gave humans elven blood.

None of it could join together to form and answer to the problem.

"Problem 1017?"

"No of course not."

"Good 'cos if there was we'd have to report it to the leader."

"Of course…" she flicked a piece of eraser off the page "…you'd have to scurry back to him like the little lapdog you are wouldn't you?" she muttered

"Excuse me?"

"Thinking aloud."

"Really?"

"Well I had to be. I wasn't talking to you about mana signature relation to amino acid base pairings and Aionis' affect on them, now was I?"

"Uhh…"

"No, otherwise you'd be doing this work instead of me."

She glared at the guard "Now kindly leave me to my work."

Raine flicked the same strand of hair back behind her ear irritably staring at the page of notes again, hoping that she would notice some pattern in the equations, that it would suddenly come to here.

It had been 4 days since she'd been set the task and 'the leader' was already starting to get impatient at the lack of progress that she was making. The guards reported her findings to him every evening and apparently the fact that she hadn't made any advancements since being set the task was disappointing.

What was he expecting, a miracle? She was good. She wasn't _that_good.

But then…it was the other 'in-mates' that were putting him on edge.

They had been increasingly aggressive and rebellious towards the guards ever since she had been taken to meet the leader and they were furious to find out that he dare demand such a thing of her. They were almost at breaking and if they didn't get to escape within a few weeks…they'd never build up the confidence to do so again.

They wouldn't have to though. They'd be dead in two weeks if what she had heard about the Loras project was accurate.

The bomb was almost built, the tracking devices almost perfected…apart from her project there was only one more component that needed completing. The tunnel.

The underground pathway ran from the Saloth'sarian base to the former remote island human ranch…where there were a group of half-elves working on the release device for the bomb. The mana cannon.

If that tunnel was completed, then all the necessary materials and resourced would be transferred straight there and the bomb would be released in a matter of days after.

The tunnel was currently about 7 miles from the ranch with a group of twenty working on digging it. They were making good time too. Ever since the Leader had drafted in a professional mining company or whatever it was, the project had been advancing at an alarming rate.

The guards had detected a change in the half-elves that were digging the tunnel though. They were getting more and more 'uppity' with the guards…and Raine's influence hadn't even reached them. The two tiers of half-elves were kept completely separate…which meant that the rumours about the outer force coming up to help free the captives was true.

It was Regal who was the mining company leader who'd been brought into help and no doubt Presea was with him. They were spreading that message through the lower ranks…and Kratos was helping too, somehow. He'd be planning a diversion or attack or some such tacit no doubt…with everyone on the inside gathering information for it.

They'd come soon. She could feel it.

--

"She's to report to the leader immediately."

Raine knew that the newly arrived guard was going to say that before the words had left. She tensed instantly, a heavy hand dropping onto her shoulder.

She was standing and throwing the hand off her in a split second, backing away to the hatch that usually contained the increasingly infrequent half-elf that powered the project. The lack of familiar mana further adding to her already stressed state. The vague intimacy had proven to be something of a comfort blanket for her, even if she didn't know who it was…but now, without Genis or any form of comfort...she was teetering on an emotional edge that she felt like she was about to fall from.

"Alright, calm down sweetheart…"

"I am _not_ your sweetheart! Don't you even dare think about referring to me like that!"

"Wow…what've you done to her?" the newer guard turned to his colleague and shrugged, looking stunned at the usual calm woman's demeanour that was now border lining on violence.

"Calm down, yeah? The Leader just wants to discuss the project with you."

" The_Leader _can go fu…"

"Silence! You will not refer to your superiors that way…not unless you want your brother to die."

She immediately snapped her mouth shut but remained pressed against the wall, almost snarling at the guards.

"Now, 1-0-1-7…walk." He pointed at the door.

Raine glanced to the door and then the new soldier, eying the metal baton in his holster. She almost flinched at the sight…being hit with a wooden one had hurt enough…she wouldn't like to imagine the damage that the chunk of steel could cause.

Straightening, she moved from the wall, keeping as far from the guards as possible as she made her way to the door. The guard collected her notes and followed her.

She was lead through the same pathways, elevators and corridors as before, bland walls passing by and fading into the background as she thought ahead to the meeting.

The door to the bathroom was opened before her and she walked in silently, still noting that feeling of being watched. She stripped and showered as quickly as possible, not bothering to savour the hot water this time.

The white clothes were laid out on the table in front of her again; slightly better fitting this time, snugger as if somebody had sized her up. More disturbingly, there was a set of underwear laid out for her.

Grimacing, she held her towel that she had made sure to keep on once leaving the shower closed with one hand, the other checking the underwear's size.

Too small. But only just…it was a close fit and she hurriedly pulled away, dressing underneath the towel and checking her appearance in the mirror before leaving. She was just thankful that the shirt they had offered her had thicker material around the bust.

The bathroom had been a little chilly today, bringing her out in goose bumps.

"Speedy today." the guard commented as she shut the bathroom door behind her.

She shrugged, heading for the elevator, the guard trotting alongside. She was sent up to the meeting room just as before, and pushed into the room, alone to await the leader.

He appeared after just a few moments.

"Ah, Ms Sage," he greeted, spreading his arms in greeting "I trust you're well?"

"Physically, yes."

"I am upset to hear that."

Raine snorted.

"Untrusting, aren't you?"

"Given the situation, I can hardly be blamed."

The Leader paused, sliding onto one of the sofas that were set in the centre of the room.

"Be that as it may, Raine, this is not a situation where you can afford to not believe me. We have an agreement…"

"We do not have an agreement. We have a problem produced by your racism and blackmailing."

"Speak carefully, Raine, your brother's life is at stake."

She bit her lip.

"Good. Now…shall we discuss the real issue here…how is the task I set you with progressing?"

"Badly. Slowly."

"Why?"

"Because I don't have the resources needed to undertake this level of research. Any theory is merely conjecture and could well kill you if it's not correct."

The Leader shook his head "You'll find a way."

"Was that a statement of encouragement? Or a threat?"  
"Both. Raine, if you do not succeed, I'll punish you as much as your brother."

"Don't you understand?! I can't conduct this level of research with so few materials, in such a short space of time."

"The project, aside from your task, will be complete within 2 weeks…you know this…"

"Yes and I'm saying I can't come up with anything in that space of time. I need help and better resources!"

"Denied. I'm not letting you stir-up anymore of my captives…you've done enough damage already…"

"You…"

"I know about the idea that you want to escape. I know there's some form of contact and that there are two forces at work here…they won't succeed."

"You have no idea what's coming, do you?"

"No. Do you?"

She remained silent.

"Exactly. So I suggest you work, under my conditions, as if there wasn't some pathetic attempt at a rescue coming."

"I can't…"

"I advise you to not give up before you've even begun. The ancient hero found a way to turn a human into a life form that was essentially a half-elf…and before you protest further, I have something to show you."

He snapped his fingers and a lock clicked open somewhere in the room.

Raine looked around, trying to locate the source of the sound. The Leader pointed to a corner of the room, a glass tube set into the wall, a door carved into the surface and he led her towards it, making sure she stepped in before him.

The plate below their feet was glass too, and it showed a long, dark tunnel travelling deep beneath the floor they were on.

"BS floor 1."

The platform slid smoothly down at the instruction, black sliding up to replace the view of the room. Raine shuffled back, pressing herself into the back wall, uneasy at being alone in the dark with the leader. There was something other than the racism that wasn't entirely wholesome about him and it was putting her increasingly on edge as she spent more time around him.

She wasn't aware how long they were in the dark, but when light filtered in again, she found herself wincing and flinching away from the dim glow.

The tube was bringing them into a dungeon, the walls grey and wet, moss growing on rocky surfaces, water dripping off surface.

Dim yellow light from oil lamps bathed the corridors in a depressing glow, flickering and churning…a decaying sort of light.

The glass door slid open and Raine stepped out, being greeted instantly with the smell of waste and blood. And fear.

The Leader stepped out behind her. "In there."

He pointed to a rusted door, red with corrosion but when he walked to it and tapped it, it swung inwards smoothly.

The room was black as she entered, but lights flickered into life with her movements, bright white halogen-esque lamps that all but blinded her after the dim light of the corridor.

It was an observation booth, a large blank screen taking up the wall in front of her, a chair and various electronics set up before it.

"Sit."

She slid into the chair without question, staring worriedly at the screen, knowing that she was about to see her brother.

The image of Genis flickered before settling, his wiry form clad in grey hunched in the corner of a damp cell. His head was down, white haired matted and grimy, pale hands clasped in front of him. He was shaking.

The Leader tapped at an intercom, ordering someone on the other end to do something.

Raine wasn't listening, too intent on the image of her poor brother. Her heart pounded when light beamed into the room, a man's silhouette cast up the middle.

Genis looked up wearily, bloodshot blue eyes alighting on the guard who was shutting the door behind him. He hung a lamp on the wall, pulling Genis to his feet and making him face the camera.

It was obvious what they wanted to show her.

A thin red scratch on his cheek, his chest, his right shoulder.

They were minor injuries. They would heal within days. They were a promise of more to come, if she didn't do as they asked.

"So, Raine…what would you like to do now?"

"Other than see my brother personally?"

He nodded.

Genis stared up at the camera with dull eyes.

"…I'd like to have another attempt at that task you set."

"Good girl."

The image was shut off; she was led from the room into the corridor towards the tube.

She stopped, something in the air catching her attention.

Electricity and light and wind, the smell and sense so familiar now. Mana. It was the mana of the specimen behind the project…he was here.

"Move, Ms Sage. You have four days until you have to report to me again. If you haven't found anything by then…"

She nodded. The threat needed no explanation.

--

Raine wanted to scream with frustration. She wanted to pound at the walls that enclosed her. She wanted to rip the papers to shreds. She wanted to tear the man that was corroding her to pieces.

She couldn't.

She couldn't do anything. She couldn't lead this revolt and save her race, couldn't save her brother. She couldn't even complete the task she had been set by him. She was supposed to be some kind of genius…right now, she was a failure in everyway.

Instead, she doodled. She drew images of freedom and her brother. She drew blood and she drew death. She drew her own fading mind and will.

Gods, she couldn't even think without repeating herself now. Every sentence she thought or spoke began with 'I can't…'

How had it come to this? How had it got to a stage where she had lost confidence in herself? She had always had that above all else...and Genis…she had always had him too. Now she had lost both of the things she needed to survive.

Her four days were up and she was no closer to coming up with an answer than she had been when she had first heard the challenge.

The guard was already at the door, the dry rustle of draught excluders against tiles sounding like a death herald.

She stood without question, walking from the room silently. She trudged through the glass and chrome corridors. She entered the bathroom. She showered. She dried. She put on the underwear that had been left for her. She donned the thin white dress.

She was lead into the waiting room.

But the guard was pointing to the door that the Leader always entered through and it knocked something back into her.

Curiosity?

Maybe.

Fear was far more likely.

Heart speeding up, she headed for the door, knocking before entering.

It was a small room, another glass tube on the far wall and she hesitantly entered, feeling her heart starting to pound insistently against her ribs.

Definitely fear.

The room was plush and luxuriously decorated. Reds and purples, silver and gold. Velvet curtains and silk tapestries. Large, ornate windows with views of a stunning green garden.

Green. She was drawn to it instantly. This was the first time she had seen it for almost a month now. Trees of every size and shape stood below: Mizuho sunset maples, weeping willows, firs and oaks and silver birches.

Ducks and swans glided on a silver surfaced lake, hawks with clipped wings glared from high perches.

Flowers bloomed in every direction. Pansies and petunias. Violets and ivy. Holly and snowdrops.

"Enjoying the view?"

She spun at the voice, noting that the higher pitch he usually used was gone, replaced with a ridiculously deep, grating voice.

It was lower than Dirk and Altessa's put together…it was an odd sound coming from someone who showed more elven blood than human…

The thought stuck, lodging in the back of her mind. _More elven than human…_

"Somewhat. But you don't have my favourites." Raine gestured to the garden.

"My apologies," Sarcasm… it riddled the tone of his voice like poison. "But then…why should I apologise?…after all you've failed me."

He strode towards her quickly, standing behind her and staring down at her.

"I…"

The blow struck her across the face, hard, cutting her sentence off.

"Speak when spoken to…and before you point out that I asked, it was a rhetorical question, as you well know."

Her hands trembled, wanting to lift and press against the stinging cheek. She resisted. It would only show weakness.

"Now, Raine, you're well aware of the penalty you'll pay for failing…" he stared down at her "but…despite what you think, I'm a fair man."

She scoffed mentally.

"You have 10 days, more or less, to complete the task, but for everyday you take now…I'll take it out on you…your brother has until then to live. Along with the rest of your kind."

He stepped forwards, unnervingly close, backing her into the window so that she was pressed against cool glass and stared down at her, hard grey eyes, flecked with blood red locking onto hers. His hand lifted, fingers resting against her hot, stinging cheek. His tongue licked slowly along red lips.

Something flared. Hot and unsettling, churning in her gut.

Anger and fear.

Raine straightened her back, raising herself to her full height, her fire back if not her confidence. She didn't know where it had come from…but it was there, and that was all she needed.

"Are you going to fight me, Raine?"

His hand gripped her cheek, tightening on the pale flesh painfully, other hand grasping her hair.

"Every step of the way." she hissed.

She kicked suddenly, catching him in the stomach. He grunted, releasing her temporarily, only to lunge for her a second later, his hand snatching her wrist, dragging her towards him.

Her shoulder blades collided with his chest, arm bent behind her back as his free hand fumbled for hers, and she lashed out again, slamming her small fist into him in rapid succession.

Solar plexus, instep, nose, groin.

Singing.

Something Kratos had taught her to do for self-defence. He wasn't even here and he was still saving her.

The Leader gasped, staggering back and instinctively pushing Raine away. Hard.

She slammed into the window, feeling it crack with the force and she hissed as her ribs crashed into it.

And he was right up against her again, spinning her and slamming her back into the glass. It shattered, sends shards of glass falling to the garden.

Below, birds shrieked as it rained on them. Above, Raine cried as it punctured her back, jamming into the flesh.

He grabbed her by the wrists and threw her across the room, sending her crashing to the floor, landing heavily on the carpet that didn't seem so plush anymore. Glass dislodged, scattering around her, its tips stained in her blood and he strode towards as she lay on the floor, steps deliberately heavy.

Raine back-peddled, slicing her hand open on a shard of glass that lay on the floor pain biting through her hand as he approached.

He kicked suddenly, catching her in the jaw, sending her sprawling back on the carpet, grinning as he watched her helplessness at the move and he dropped to her side, hands on her shoulders before she had time to recover.

The taste of blood exploded in her mouth, the liquid running freely as her teeth tore a gash in her own tongue and his hands were on her shoulders before she had time to register anything.

He was pinning her to the floor, hands holding her down as he swung his leg over her, straddling her waist and staring down at her, grinning perversely.

"Would you look at this? The unbeatable Raine Sage, lying here at my mercy…I wonder what your followers would say?"

She spat at him, bloody saliva spattering his face.

The Leader reached up slowly with one hand, freeing her shoulder momentarily as he wiped the blood speckled saliva from his cheek, before laying his hand at her waist.

Unnoticed, Raine's hand reached for something, anything that could be used as a weapon against him.

He lifted his hand from her waist, backhanding her calmly, leaving her grimacing in pain as a bruise started to form on her cheek in the same spot where he had hit her earlier.

Her hand kept searching, fingers flexing and reaching for…

His hand was at her collar, thumb stroking heavily at uncovered collar bones, taunting along a patterned white hem.

Glass! It cut her fingers as they found it, just as his other hand released her other shoulder, grasping at her neck tightly instead. Rough fingers tugged at thin white cotton, tearing down slowly revealing pale skin and soft curves.

Raine stayed still, breathing heavily as his hand began to roam into inappropriate territory, stretching her fingers uncomfortably and dragging the glass into range, blood falling onto the smooth surface making it harder to grasp.

His hand was suddenly where it had no business being, caressing roughly and heavily, kneading sensitive skin bruisingly heavily.

Fingers closed around the glass shard fully.

She lashed out, faster than she thought she could, the sharp point of the glass soaked in her blood shearing through his clothing like paper, digging into dark skin beneath.

He yelled, rearing back as red liquid, spurted from his chest, hands clasping over the wound. The leader hunched himself into a ball, cradling the injury as Raine clambered to her feet, still gripping the glass in her injured hand, breathing heavily, shirt hanging open over a heaving chest.

The half-elf glared up at her, staggering across to a panel on the door and slamming his fist into it with a bloodied hand. Seconds later, guards were filing into the room, armed and ready to attack.

Raine folded her arms over her chest, trying to cover herself up from the strangers' gazes.

"Dungeon." The leader hissed, pointing at her and she was being dragged from the room roughly.

Raine let herself be taken from his chambers, wanting nothing more than to get as far away from that man as possible.

--

The Leader growled as a doctor dabbed at his chest, staring angrily at the screen tracking Raine's movements through the corridors as she was lead past the cell he had originally assigned her.

He had done it out of kindness initially, knowing that she would appreciate being back with her brother but…following this little sequence of events…

Let's see how Ms Sage got along with her new cellmate. He was sure to give her a _warm _welcome given his treatment over the past few months.

--

The door slammed shut behind her with a resounding clang, plunging the dungeon into near pitch blackness.

Raine gripped the tattered fabric of her clothing tighter around her, trembling still from the ordeal she had just experienced. Her heart didn't seem to want to slow its pace either. The atmosphere of the chamber only served to increase her feelings of vulnerability at the moment and she looked around the room for any sign of danger.

She noted that it wasn't completely black, there was a soft blue-purple glow that trickled from around the corner, dim light that made the darkness seem ever more solid and oppressive.

Quiet, rasping noises echoed in whispers around the room, reminding her of a time when she had been walking in the woods. She had stopped then…heard that same sort of noise and had turned to see a wolf behind her, waiting to pounce.

It was Kratos who had come running into the clearing, not surprisingly, and fought the animal off.

But Kratos wasn't here now and Raine drew her clothes even tighter around her as she stepped forwards, hoping it was only the darkness she had to fear.

She reached the corner and stopped, standing on the threshold of discovery, heart pounding. Light and noise was filtering from the hidden creature around the corner…mana too, warm and familiar, the realisation of who it was that was powering the project slamming into her like a ton of bricks…and she couldn't believe she hadn't realised it sooner.

With a final deep breath to prepare herself, she stepped around the corner, instantly become bathed in that weak lavender glow.

"You took your time."

The voice was raspy from disuse, fragile from abuse and Raine blinked at the sound, not being able to find anything similar to the voice she was expecting in this person's voice.

Perhaps if one were to strip away the layers of pain and suffering, one would be able to recognise it for being his.

Approaching cautiously, she sat next to the figure.

"They caught you too?"

He turned his head, looking at her over his shoulder, matted blue hair spilling over his back, green eyes lit only by the glow from the tattered wings splayed out behind him.

"I would have thought that was obvious considering the situation." Yuan answered, sarcastic nature still burning in the face of oppression.

Raine made a quiet noise of agreement, trailing her eyes over the seraph's battered body, relaxing at the familiarity with him.

Like her, he was dressed in tattered white cotton, but only the bare minimum, revealing bruised waxy skin, faded to near pure white from lack of sunlight. The half-elf had been pale in the first place, blue-heads always were, but there was no natural colour to his flesh anymore, making injuries stand out in morbid contrast to the blank canvas of skin.

The flesh was stretched tightly over barely concealed bones, ribs and hipbones so pronounced that her reminded Raine of Kilia. In the dim violet light of his wings, the shadows created by peaks of bones were all the darker…hollow pits of black.

It surprised Raine that the angel's wings weren't concealed inside his body as they usually were, but as her eyes fell on them, she realised they weren't out by choice.

Like everything else in this place, they were forced out. Mounted on the wall behind Yuan was a machine port, glowing white cables trailing from it – mana restrains, solid cords of mana that were unbreakable- and they were wrapped securely around the wings where they met the skin, strangling them. If he tried to retract his wings, the coils would enter his body along with them…she couldn't imagine the amount of pain that sort of intrusion would cause.

The scars around the base of Yuan's wings though, only a few months old, testified that he certainly could.

Shuffling forwards slowly so as not to startle him by the movement, Raine examined the cables, checking the damage they had done to his wings. Where they were tied, clumps of feathers had been scraped from mana-made cartilage that formed a frame for the appendages. She pulled away, examining the rest of his wings.

They were in no better a state, thin fingers of cartilage snapped and hanging, large clumps of feathers missing, creating gaps in the gossamer structures to such an extent that it appeared most of his wings were missing.

What remained of them lay limp and ragged on the floor, the mana of them barely emitting a glow anymore, allowing the indigo wings to be seen fully – greasy feathers attached haphazardly to cartilage, on the verge of falling off and leaving a delicate skeleton behind.

"I'm in pretty bad shape," Yuan rasped, flinching slightly when her fingers slid across feathers lightly "but I guess that was obvious."

"How long have you been here?"

He shrugged. "Days, weeks, months…maybe years. It's hard to tell down here. Or up there."

"Up there?"

"The hatch that I'm put in everyday to power the project they're working on."

Raine nodded. "Except that you're not in there everyday anymore."

Yuan snorted and made a bizarre noise that was perhaps intended to be laughter. "No. Too weak and pathetic from having my mana drained now…"

"They're letting you rest and recover so that you survive longer."

He nodded. "Yes. The Loras project won't..." he trailed off, a fit of coughing suddenly overtaking him.

Raine leaned forwards, laying a hand on his shoulder to steady his weakening form. "Take it easy…"

"Thanks for the advice."

He straightened, trying to sit up, eventually giving in and reclining against the wall.

"How long have you been here?" he asked, breaking the silence.

"25 days."

Yuan nodded. "There's an escape plan underway, yes?"

"Yes but…"

"I probably won't survive to see it."

"That's not what I was going to say…"

"You were going to say that you're not sure whether it'll go ahead."

"…yes."

"As long as Kratos is leading it, it'll happen."

"You're very confident of that."

"If there's one thing that 4000 years of being Kratos' friend has taught me, it's that if there's something being kept from him that he wants back, he'll get it back."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Yuan rolled his eyes tiredly. "For a genius, you're really quite dense in some respects, Raine."

Her mouth hing open at the words and she leant on the wall next to Yuan, watching as his eyes fell shut, his breathing deepening as he fell asleep.

Enraged at the jibe Raine turned her gaze back to the wall in front of her, pondering her next move and the meaning of Yuan's words.

* * *

Well there you are. Hoped you enjoyed it and we finally have some Yuan (yay!) because I love Yuan. I think he's awesome. Also hope the more violent scenes weren't too bad.

(cough) anyway uh...please review.


	16. Don't stay

A.N: Thanks for the reviews everyone, they're greatly appreciated as always.

Enjoy the chapter/

* * *

Don't stay

Weakening moonlight filtered down into the large clearing, bleaching everything and recolouring it with a thin layer of silver on green and brown and whatever other earthy colours the woods contained.

Kratos looked up at the moon, attempting to judge what time it was. 3:00am approximately, hence the lowering moon…but it would still be at least an hour and a half before the sun's rays would creep into the sky…and there was plenty of work to be done before then.

Mainly the refinement of the trainees.

Groups of twenty half-elves at a time were being brought to him in the centre of these woods by Lloyd, Colette and Sequoia, depending who was free at the time.

And once there the group of half-elves who had (in some of their opinions – stupidly) volunteered to attack the Saloth'sarians would undergo three gruelling hours of training before returning to the camp to do…whatever it was they were doing there.

Kratos didn't actually know anymore. The second day of mass searching for remaining half-elves had yielded promising results and the size of their army was now numbering near 150. Not that much in the grand scheme of things…but it might just be enough to achieve what they wanted. But the amount of Halflings now meant that training had had to be started immediately and that meant that the training sessions had been running for a week.

21 hours. That was all the training each group had received so far and Kratos was not happy, to say the least. He wished the days were longer. If everything went according to plan, they would be attacking in 9 days…which meant that there were another 24 hours worth of training that they could receive before they left to attack.

Of course, Kratos couldn't do much more than he was already doing as it was. There were eight groups of half-elves, being trained for three hours a day, which equalled 24 hours worth of training a _day_for Kratos. Needless to say, he was become extremely irritable.

Food was ferried to him with every other group so that he got to eat every 6 hours but…they he had no time for sleep…it was fortunate he didn't really need it. For a seraph, sleep was a luxury, not a necessity.

Kratos tapped his foot irritably, looking up at the moon again as if it would give him the time of day right down to the exact second. They were late and as far as Kratos was concerned, 2 minutes could mean the difference between knowing how to execute an attack or not.

Bushes rustled to his right and he pushed himself from the rock he had been resting against. It was really quite convenient that all these rocks were randomly placed in clearings…

A red clad hand brushed aside deep green foliage, and Lloyd emerged from the plants as if some kind of ghostly apparition. He offered his father a tense smile of greeting upon seeing him and Kratos nodded in return. Despite his fatigue that was slowly mounting up on a seraph who was now used to the luxury of slumbering, it would not do to take his irritation out on his only living relative. Besides, if it weren't for Lloyd, this little operation wouldn't be running nearly as smoothly as it was.

"Group number one, ready to start their day with?..." Lloyd asked, gesturing to the half-elves that were pushing their way into the clearing, all looking well rested and fed, if not entirely pleased with the situation. Coe was at their head.

Kratos smiled grimly. "Perhaps a short run to ensure you're all alert?" he addressed the question at the group who nodded sulkily, aware that it wasn't so much a question as a command.

"You mind if I come too?" Lloyd asked, sidling up to his father.

"If you so wish."

"Kratos? Sir? Uh…how long is a 'short' run?" one of the recruits asked timidly.

"From here to edge of the waterfall within the woods. We'll perform our training there this morning and then finish off with a jog back to here."

"That's, like 2 miles! We'll have no time to get our swords out!"

Garnet eyes flashed dangerously "Well then you'd better get going hadn't you? and go as quickly as possible. I trust you know the way by now?"

The half-elves turned in the appropriate direction and started jogging immediately, most of them muttering about 'slave driving humans'.

"Can't you ease up on them?" Lloyd asked, his voice quiet.

"I could and then we'd be slaughtered the second our enemy sights us."

"..are they gonna get to the waterfall in time to do any training?"

"Most of them are in better shape than they believe…if we keep them going at a decent pace without them being in too bad a condition when they arrive, perhaps they'll see that."

"You didn't answer the question."

"Lloyd, they'd have to be moving at less than a mile an hour to run out of time and most people walk at an average of 3.5 and if they're running, they should make it there in about…half an hour. Leaving at least two hours to train."

"Ok, Ok, I didn't need a lecture."

Kratos rolled his eyes before pulling out his wings, Lloyd following suit before the angels launched into the sky together, tracking the recruits from overhead.

"Isn't this cheating?"

"Why? We don't require the training."

"Yeah but…they're running, it seems like we should be putting the effort in too."

"If you wish to join them, you can, I won't stop you…"

"Uh…sure."

The younger angel banked, descending from his father towards the woods.

"Lloyd!"

"What?" Came the distant reply and Kratos had to swoop down to meet his son.

"We need to discuss what you've discovered about Saloth'sar later…"

Lloyd nodded. "Yeah. Maybe during the training or in the flight back? That should give us a chance to talk."

"Maybe so…"

Lloyd frowned. "Sure whatever." Before heading for the trees.

"Lloyd…one more thing…"

"What?" the teen turned irritably.

"I'm pleased to see you've returned safely."

A smile broke out on Lloyd's face, anger gone as he turned and dove into the woods. Kratos let a tired smile slip across his face at his son's response, before pulling himself higher into the night air, watching the running group from above.

--

Lloyd landed softly behind the last runner of the group, taking care not to notify him of his presence as he folded his wings away and began to jog behind him, bringing up the rear for the group's safety. The smile that had appeared on his face at his Dad's words was still there.

"'I'm pleased to see you've returned safely'" Was the closest phrase Kratos had to 'I'm glad you're back."…all in all, it was actually quite a large sentiment coming from the stoic seraph.

"Dunno what you're grinning about…" panted the half-elf that Lloyd was running alongside now, still at the rear of the group.

This particular young man, Guy, if Lloyd was remembering his name right, was a rather surly member of the group who spent most of his time sulking and/ or complaining about Kratos

Stocky, surly, sulky Guy, as he was known was something of a rarity among half-elves. He actually stood up to his human oppressors, which in principle, was good. However he lacked the mental capacity to really do anything with that supposed bravery…which was less good. As such, he spent most of his time back-talking to Kratos (whom had now taken to ignoring him completely as long as he wasn't disrupting the training sessions) and generally irritating his commander.

Lloyd had to question why he was there at all since Kratos had coolly informed him on several occasions that if he was willing to back-talk, he was disrespectful, disrespect of a commander brought dissension in the ranks and if that was the case, he was more of a hindrance than a help and he should leave.

Guy didn't seem to have realised that it was a less than subtle order to go away.

Lloyd shrugged as he ran along side the ginger half-elf. "Just something Kratos said to me."

"Oh yeah? 'Go and kill yourself by running a stupid track through a wood in the middle of the night'"

"I don't have to do this run, I wanted to."

"You're as twisted as 'e is. hang on though, that's not possible…"

Lloyd snorted. "You don't know what twisted is…Kratos is just stern, but he knows what he's talking about. If he says doing this will help, it will. He's experienced in battles and stuff."

"You would say that, you're 'is kid."

"So? Doesn't mean that what I said isn't true."

"He's gonna kill us with this 'training'."

"He's going to save most of your race with it."

"Yeah right'"

"If you don't believe that," Lloyd ducked underneath a branch, wincing when Guy ran into it and it snapped into the back of his head once he had passed it "Why are you here? Doing this?"

"What else am I gonna do? Have to try to help my race don't I? Even if it does mean taking orders from tha…"

"Stop whatever you're about to say," Lloyd snarled warningly, glaring at the other young man out of the corner of his eye "and listen to me."

Guy snorted, a string of mucus shooting from his nose at the action. He wiped it away with the back of his forearm, not noticing Lloyd widening the gap between them.

"Kratos knows what he's doing and he's the only person I know who could do this kind of thing He cares about what happens to the race of half-elves and that should be enough to make you support him as it is, but it's not, so I'll give you some advice."

They had slowed to a walk now, despite the fact that both of them clearly had enough energy left to continue…the half-elf was merely being difficult to spite Kratos.

"If you're going to stay here and train under him and fight under his orders, then stop balk-talking, stop insulting him and muttering about him under your breath and stop thinking you know better. He's not a soft person, he won't wear down no matter what you throw at him, but one day he might just turn it around on you and he'll make you sorry for what you've done.

"He's not a bad guy, but he does deserve your respect and attention and trust me, when it comes to situations like this, it's easier on you to do what he says. In this case…it's easier to run."

With a final glare at the half-elf, Lloyd sprinted ahead, leaving Guy to walk alone.

--

Kratos settled onto the mossy ground near the waterfall lightly, crouching near the pool to splash some of the water on his face. He stood, turning and pushing his hair from his face, removing the cloak he wore whilst he waited for the trainees to arrive.

They shouldn't be long now; he had seen them nearing this area as he had flown overhead, a few who were proving to be quite able leading, followed by a large mass of average performers and finally the stragglers bringing up the rear. Lloyd had been among them, Kratos had noted, keeping an eye on them.

Movement caught his attention and he threw the cloak over a rock, watching white cloth rustling among the bushes before it pushed into the clearing. His sword was in his hand in a split second, anticipating the half-elf charging through the brush.

The halfling entered the clearing, spotted his teacher standing with sword drawn and despite his tired condition, drew his sword, launching into an attack.

Kratos parried, flicking the sword back towards its wielder, following with his own attack. It was blocked. Barely, but blocked nevertheless.

"Good, you're learning to anticipate your opponent's movements."  
"Well it makes sense," the half-elf panted "that if your enemy had just deflected your attack, he's going to respond with one of his own."

"Yes. You've known that since before we started training, but…" blades clashed "you're actually able to respond physically to the knowledge now, Cregennen."

"Heh," sweat trickled down the bronze haired half-elf's temple "You can actually remember our names…"

Kratos ran his tongue along the edge of his teeth as he pushed against his trainee's blade, aware of the other half-elves beginning to filter into the clearing.

"Some of you…"

"Those of us who prove ourselves?"

"Those of you who are here because you want to be here and act as such…those of you who have the courage to face people like me and Lloyd."

"Humans…"

"Yes." The long silvered blade of Kratos' sword struck sharply at the hilt of his opponent's sword, sending it flying from his hand. The tip of his weapon was at Cregennen's throat a second later.

"Well done. You're improving."

"I lost…"

"But you endured for a respectable amount of time considering your condition and…few people are able to best me."

The bronze haired young man, dipped his head. "Yes, thank you Master."

Kratos shifted uncomfortably, lowering the blade. "…I'll ask you to not refer to me by that title…it is not one I've earned."

He turned away to look at the half-elves that had gathered in the clearing. "All of you, sort yourself into pairs…with someone you_haven't _sparred with before," he gave a pointed look to a young man and woman who had recently formed a relationship "you'll not be fighting each other in real battle, so there's no point doing it in simulation either."

They nodded in understanding, shuffling into pairs and spreading throughout the clearing, still tired from the run but knowing they'd have a much easier time if they obeyed Kratos. They drew swords and Kratos watched quietly as they fought each other, noticing a girl standing near the border of the forest without a partner.

"Lloyd?" Kratos called to his son, sitting on a rock and sharpening one of his swords. "Who are we missing?"

"Take a guess."

The seraph cursed under his breath, knowing the individual who was still in the woods without even having to look around.

"Enera, yes?" The girl nodded, smiling shyly, embarrassed that he had managed to remember her name when he was oblivious to some others. "Can you spar with Lloyd until I find Guy?"

She nodded again, immediately drawing her sword and heading for Lloyd. Kratos smiled faintly. Quiet, maybe, but she was eager and determined.

Taking a last glance around the group, he headed into the woods before taking flight, skimming over the tree tops to look for the missing half-elf.

He wasn't difficult to find, considering the orange attire, and Kratos dived into the trees, intending to creep up behind the half-elf who was sitting on a rock, munching an apple.

The ex-mercenary landed heavily, stalking towards the boulder angrily, sword out. He didn't attack though, instead reining his anger in and quietly reaching around to place the cold blade against his throat.

Guy gasped, startled, apple dropping from his hand in surprise.

"It's advisable, Guy, for you to obey my orders, should you actually wish to aid your race." The black velvet voice was low, angry, its owner enraged at the young man's lack of discipline and blatant disregard for others.

Didn't he know that Raine's life was at stake?

"K…Kratos…"

"Lord Aurion, if you don't mind. Now," he removed the blade "Get into that clearing."

"I'm not..."

"Now!"

He had spun the half-elf around, the blade at his throat again, rage starting to slip through a cracking mask.

"I am _not _in the mood to play your pathetic games at the moment, if ever. Go." A gloved hand shoved roughly at his shoulder, causing the half-elf to stumble. He snorted at the former human.

"You think you can…"

A blow struck him across the cheek, splitting his cheek open and Guy looked up to see Kratos clenched fist raised in warning of another punch.

"Run."

"I.."

"I didn't say talk, but since you're so obviously incapable of moving of your own accord…"

Kratos stepped forward, grabbing the younger man by the collar before crouching and slamming his shoulder into his stomach sending him toppling over. The angel caught him on the same shoulder and stood, the winded half-elf hanging over his shoulder, helpless as the older man carried him through the woods.

Kratos stormed through the woods, snapping branches out of the way angrily with one hand, the other holding his unwilling 'passenger' firmly in place despite his struggling and protestations.

Taking note of the thinning trees and the sounds of swords clashing, he sped up, jostling his passenger uncomfortably as his protestations increased.

--

Lloyd looked away from Enera as he heard branches cracking, holding up a hand to signal for her to stop and she did so, lowering the short sword she was using. The pair next to her noticed the cessation of sparring and followed suit, turning to look sceptically where Lloyd was watching.

Gradually as the sound of splitting wood got louder, a gruff male voice rising on the slight wind being carried to them, the rest of the group stopped.

And then Kratos was pushing his way through the bushes, striding into the clearing, Guy hanging over his shoulder and the seraph unceremoniously dumped the half-elf in the semi-circle of ground left over.

Giggles ran around the group at the sight, attempted to be stifled by their owners, unsuccessfully in most cases…until they noticed the expression on their leader's face and then the laughter dried up pretty quickly.

"You're insane!" Guy stated suddenly, scrambling to his feet and away from Kratos.

Kratos inclined his head. "Quite possibly," his voice shook with barely restrained rage "but I'm also the only person here who has the experience of battle and swordplay to train you."

"Lloyd…"

"Lloyd has not seen a real war; Lloyd has not led troops of over a thousand men into battle before now."

"You…"

"Quiet." The silver blade flicked out from its scabbard.

The half-elf's eyes widened, and he backed away. Lloyd stepped towards his father.

"Draw your sword." Kratos ordered of the recruit, ignoring the rising looks of worry that the group was expressing.

Shakily, Guy did so, looking around uncertainly.

"Don't look at them. Look at me."

Grey eyes met garnet.

"You, Guy, have been nothing but a nuisance since you've arrived. You disobey me, you disrupt my training sessions, you slander me when you think I cannot hear you and you try and rally others against me. Unsuccessfully so far, I'm glad to see.

So now, you're going to be of some use to me before I get rid of you."  
"Wh…"

"Quiet!

"You are going to spar with me and I am going to fight at the level that the Saloth'sarians do. In fact I'm going to fight _exactly_like them…and we're going to see if you can beat me and how much your slacking off pays off…"

Guy looked to Lloyd uncertainly. The young man shrugged in an 'I told you so' gesture, folding his arms as he kept a careful eye on his father.

"On 3!" Lloyd called to them, watching Kratos remove the blue stone set into the key crest on the back of his left hand.

"One….two…thr…"

And Guy had already charged at his commander, eager to prove himself better than the angel, attacking with a downwards slash.

Kratos side-stepped easily, spinning around and kicking the half-elf's feet, sending him sprawling on the floor. He walked over to the fallen halfling, giving him a chance to climb to his feet, tightening his grip on his sword as the youth pushed himself up and threw himself at the seraph again.

Kratos' blade flicked up, sending the offending blade skittering out of the hands of his sparring partner, the rest of the angel's body completely still save for the slight rise and fall of his chest. And then the blade stopped in its path, slashing down the other way, leaving a bloody gash in the half-elf's chest.

Guy fell, crying out as blood ran down his chest, his hands pressing at it…and he suddenly found a sword tip at his throat for the second time that morning.

"Lloyd…how long?"

"Uh…minute and a half-ish? Less probably."

"You can't even last five minutes against me at my weakest strength."

"You're…not normal…"

"No. I'm not. I am stronger than humans, even without this," he held up the blue stone that increased his power "but I fought in a style that would compensate for that and you still couldn't win. What does that tell you?"

No answer.

"It means you're not good enough to take on the Saloth'sarians…and you cannot even begin to attempt training with that wound." He gestured to the gash on Guy's chest, a bloodied hand pressed over it. Kratos walked towards him, kneeling in front of him and extended an arm to the injury before murmuring:

"First aid."

The wound stopped bleeding, closing slightly at the treatment and Kratos pulled away, re-attaching the Cruxis Crystal.

"When we return to camp, Lloyd will accompany you to one of the safe-houses where those who are not fighting are staying."

"But I want…"

"But you _can't_." Kratos cut him off, sliding the sword back into its scabbard and turning away.

"I'm sure that the rest of you are at a higher level than that…however I shall test you before we go into battle. Now…continue with your sparring."

--

Kratos beat his wings quickly, steadying himself against a gust of wind that threw him off course temporarily. Below him, Lloyd forged on, his larger wings offering more stability, unaffected by the air currents.

"Dad?" He pulled himself up next to his father suddenly.

"Did.."

"Yes, Lloyd I had to be that hard on him." The elder Aurion answered, looking at his son briefly.

"What? I..ohh, you mean Guy, right…I was going to say anything about it."

"You weren't?"

"No. I was gonna ask if you wanted to know about Saloth'sar."

"I see…yes, if you have more information I do."  
Lloyd nodded. "Sure. So…the slaves working with Zelos and Sheena are completely onboard and are reporting back to us on the general mood of the lower level captives. Seems that everything down there is great, almost all of them are believing in us and are ready to do what it takes."

"That's good to hear."

Lloyd grinned, the smile dropping away a second later. "The upper level is ready to escape too, Regal said but…"

"But?"

"They're getting worse. The half-elf that they've been following…the Professor, if it is her, has been taken somewhere and she's only been seen once by the other workers in about three days."

"Hmmm." The seraph frowned, the news troubling him, panic blooming.

"But I've got most of the info we need about the grounds. There are only two entrances…one where I enter and the other isn't actually built yet. That's what the tunnel we're working on is…it leads to the mana cannon that Rodyle built, it's built under the seabed."

"Is that still standing?"

"Yeah…and the Saloth'sarians are using it for the project I told you Regal had found out about."

"The genocide project…they'll use the mana cannon as a weapon to destroy every half-elf in the world."

"Won't that kill everyone else too?"

Kratos shook his head. "Not necessarily…they may have developed a way to target only half-elves...how long until the tunnel is complete?"

"4 days maybe. But it'll take them a day or so to get the thing set up."

"We need confirmation of that."

"I'll get it. I go back tonight."

Kratos nodded. "What else have you found?"

"Number of guards…nearing five hundred…"

"Damn."

"But not all of them are on the gates. There's going to be a pretty big party accompanying those that go across to the mana cannon and some are going to be scattered throughout the areas of the camp."

"Yes, but they'll come running when there's a disruption…"

"So we set up a distraction."

"That's all we can do…split into two groups, some of us going in from the genocide cannon, the other approaching the main gates…"

"And we'll set the inmates off as the group at the main gate attack…"

--

Lloyd ran into the woods, watching the sky as it darkened, heading for the cliffs that overlooked the sea, Noishe at his side as he pounded towards the ocean.

There was so much news now…so many plans and so little time. He had to get the news to Regal, Presea, Zelos and Sheena.

The protozoan yipped as they neared the sea and then Lloyd was diving off the cliff, plummeting down before snapping his wings open, soaring high into the air, determined to get the message of the plans to his team.

* * *

So there you go. Hope you enjoyed it. Now push my pretty purple button please. 


	17. Overdose

A.N: OK, I'd really like to apologise profusely in advance for this chapter. It's pretty much a filler for Raine etc. a calm before the storm if you will. So, very short, and mainly some explanations but I hope it's ok.

And thanks for all the reviews I've been recieving.

Enjoy.

* * *

Overdose

She scribbled furiously at the paper, the white page becoming filled with black pencil smudges as notes poured down the page, equations scratched against paper, notes about results of applications of various materials.

The meeting with Yuan had invigorated her to try and escape, to save her kind, her brother, herself and Yuan himself.

The seraph was still down in the dungeon, but he had proven to be so useful, providing her with all the information she needed to create the 'protective' agent for the leader.

Aionis. It was so obvious that she couldn't believe she hadn't thought of it before. If Aionis gave a human the qualities of elven blood…if it essentially turned a human into a half-elf, then surely if you applied it to a half-elf it would make them completely human?

Raine didn't know if that was exactly true, but if everything went according to plan, she wouldn't be around to find out…and neither would he.

She wouldn't, _couldn't _protect a man like that, someone who was so willing to destroy a race, someone so sickeningly thick-skulled he wouldn't even accept his own race. And she couldn't let him go free…so there was only one solution left. His death.

The easiest way to do that, of course, would be to trick him with his 'cure'. She was too physically weak to take him on in combat and even if they escaped, Yuan and Genis were no better off than her. Hell, Yuan was in a worse state than her by now.

Absently, she lifted a hand to the fading bruise on her cheek, testing the area by gently applying pressure to it. Admittedly, it had only been three days since her …incident with the leader, but she had hoped that the wounds would have healed by now somehow.

She had spent the rest of that day down in the dungeon with Yuan, and into the morning after when they had taken them both back up to the lab by a different route than she was used to. She had been taken back down into the cell when the day had ended as well, kept separate from the friends she had made, the people she had inspired to escape.

Not that that was helping to quieten down the prisoners, from what she had heard from the guards. In fact, her continued absence was only serving to rile them up more. It wouldn't be long before one of them would lash out.

Not long now. She could sense it. Something was coming.

It had been twenty eight days since her and Genis' capture and the wait was finally drawing to a close. Whether she'd manage to escape…

She shook her head. It'd happen, as long as there was still breath in her body, she'd make sure of it. One thing at a time though, first she had to finish this little gem of a task…and convincingly lie to the leader that she wasn't finished with the calculations. Which she wasn't. Not to finish him off anyway.

In three hours time she'd be reporting back to him personally and Raine shuddered at the thought, not wanting anything to do with him.

But needs must and apparently he needed to see her about this project. She just hoped that he didn't try a repeat of the other day.

--

The guard grabbed her by the bicep as she turned for the bathroom, pulling her away from the mahogany door.

"Not today."

"That must mean that he's not entirely happy with me."

The guard snorted "You think?" He guided her over to the elevator, entering with her this time, following her into the room once they'd arrived.

Raine swallowed thickly, memories of the last time she walked through his room flashing through her head and her stomach churned with the thought of what could have happened. Her hand lifted to her mouth, covering it as she swallowed back nausea  
"I don't think he's interested in you like that anymore. Not since you gave him that wound."

"Are you trying to comfort me?"

"Hardly. I'm pointing out that there won't be a repeat so you may as well get on with what you need to say when he comes in."

Something thudded above their heads and Raine flinched, taking a step or tow backwards, unconsciously. The guard's hand stopped her from backing up further.

There was a whirring in the distance, the sound of mechanisms being activated and Raine was all too aware of the fact that it was the lift bearing the leader.

He entered the room after a moment…and it was not the same person she had seen before.

This 'Leader' was angry the second he entered the room, as if her very presence was an insult. His steps were heavy, long, intimidating. Hair hung in his face that was already set into a scowl…and his breathing was laboured, the wound she had inflicted upon him paining him.

"You have something to tell me?"

"You wanted the report, did you not? You're the one who summoned me." Her voice trembled, her skin crawling at the sight of the man, the feeling of his mana in the air.

"Yes. Now get on with it."

She held out the papers gingerly, trying to keep her body as far away from him as possibly, arm stretched to it full length.

The leader snorted at her body language, the way her head was turned away, lips pursed in disgust and he snatched the papers from her hand.

Raine recoiled instantly, almost hiding behind the guard now. No matter how much she wanted to show him he hadn't beaten her…she couldn't help her actions, the desire to get as far away from him as possible.

"What does this mean? Adding Aionis will not effect me."

"Adding Aionis will turn…" The Leader glared at the guard and he promptly left. Raine jostled continuing more quietly now "…what is left of your human blood elven. You'll become a pure-blood elf."

"That's not what I desire."

"Do you wish to die when you drop that bomb?"

"Find another way."

"There's no time."

The Leader remained silent. "How long will it take to have the effect of changing my blood?"

"10 days."

"Too long."

"Well if you stop interrupting my studies by calling me here, I can work on a way to shorten that. I just need a few more days to research."

"The bomb will be dropped in eight days. You have three days to complete that treatment."

"I need…statistics."

"What?"

"I need details of your…height, weight and blood type etc. So I can work out the percentages of Aionis needed for the transformation."

The Leader remained silent for a moment, contemplating the consequences.

"I'll have them brought to you."

Raine inclined her head, refusing to meet his eyes.

"May I leave now?"

"Yes."

She turned, hurrying for the door,

"Ms Sage. Your papers." He held them out towards her in the same manner in which she had handed them to him.

Raine shook her head. "You can keep them. I have copies."

She left the room without waiting for a response, rushing into the elevator and taking it down, the guard meeting her at the floor below and escorting her back to her lab.

She almost wept the second he had left the room, the fear she had held inside during the meeting with the leader crashing out of her. Almost, anyway.

It achieved in producing a small shuddering gasp, as if she were about to cry…and then her mouth snapped shut and she lifted her head, looking down at the copied page of notes she had made.

All she needed now were his details and…

The door slid one with the sucking sound of brushes on carpet, yielding a messenger. He handed her a file quietly and left without a word.

Raine waited until he'd gone before opening the file, her eyes pouring over the details and an almost sadistic grin wrote itself onto her face.

She'd give him his 'treatment' alright.

--

Night had fallen, she was sure of it, so it wasn't a complete surprise when her usual guard entered, escorting her back to her dungeon that she was sharing with Yuan. Nevertheless, it was an unwelcome event…she had been working so well today and even with the hour long break when she had reported to the leader, the work had come on in leaps and bounds.

She was so close now. Everything was working itself to a climax.

The dungeon was dark as usual and the light from Yuan's wings seemed dimmer than before, as if he was so weak now that his strength was being drained with every breath he took.

Raine was at his side in a second, feeling for a pulse at the still form's neck. A hand batted lazily at her, knocking her finger's away.

"I'll live." He rasped, turning to look at her.

She rolled her eyes.

"And if I don't then…well, I've had 4000 years…a wonderful, ripe old age, don't you think?"

Raine snorted, vaguely amused by the sarcasm.

"So how was your day, Yuan? Do anything exciting?"

"Well as a matter of fact yes. I lay here all morning because…let's face it I can't do much else and then I rolled over and stared at that wall for a bit. Then I had a crumb of bread for lunch, was allowed to stretch my wings and then I fell asleep."

"How thrilling."

"Oh I know. So what about you, Ms Sage? Any amusing anecdotes?"

"I met with the leader."

The blue-haired seraph remained silent for a moment before pulling himself up to rest against the wall behind me.

"…Uh-huh. Go on."

"I told him I can save him from the effects of the bomb."

"How?"

"Aionis."

"Because it gives humans elven blood." Yuan nodded

"Will it work?

He shrugged "It's never been investigated. It could do…I hope it doesn't."

"That bomb's not going to be released."

"You sound very sure of that."

"I….have faith."

"How sweet. I'll be sure to let Kratos know that."

"…Why are you so insistent that Kratos wants to know this sort of thing?"

"If you don't know, I'm not going to spell it out for you."

"The only reason why would be if…"

Yuan smirked, watching realisation dawn on her face.

"He doesn't…"

"Oh he does."

"He's told you that?"

"No but…I don't need him to. I can read Kratos like a book."

Raine shuffled. "I…uh, I need to ask you a few things about the application of Aionis."

"With a needle. It can be ingested orally but…it takes a long time and the results aren't pretty."

"What do you mean?"  
"Well as I recall, about 6 hours after Kratos took Aionis he collapsed and spent the following three weeks throwing up at least three times a day."

"That's…"

"Exactly what this 'leader' deserves…but we can't do that, now can we?"

"…I was actually going to ask about the quantities required."

"To do what to him?"

"To overdose him."

* * *

Again, sorry about the length etc but I promise next chapter will be better. It's a Kratos chapter...we're nearing the end, folks.

Please review as always.


	18. Easier to Run

A.N: Hello.Welcome. Back to normal length chapters now. Only a few to go as well, we're almost the end folks.

Btw, I apologise in advance if there are more spelling/ grammatical mistakes than usual. I have an bad cold at the moment and I keep sneezing, which makes my eyes water. A lot. So I can't see too well at the moment...I may have missed any mistakes more than usual.

Anyhoo, thanks for the reviews. Enjoy the chapter.

* * *

Easier to Run

Dawn broke over the world, heralding a new day that would be the beginning of the end for the reign of the Saloth'sarians.

Or so they hoped anyway.

The mass marched across open plains, Kratos and Lloyd at their head guiding them to the centre of the world.

The last training sessions had finished at midnight with the eighth group who had since had 4 hours of rest before the march had begun. Kratos had slept for four hours for what had to be the first time in two weeks, finally getting a break from the nagging worry that had plagued him since Raine had been kidnapped. His sleep had, thankfully, been uninterrupted by dreams this morning.

"I'll have to leave in an hour to fly back to Saloth'sar for the morning shift." Lloyd informed his father as he strode alongside him.

Kratos nodded. "You'll inform everyone of what's occurring?"

"Course. Zelos and Sheena are almost finished with the tunnel though."  
"But the scientists still need to work on it correct?"

"Yeah. It'll only get us one more day though."  
"We'll have arrived at the base by tomorrow morning."

"If we pick up the pace." Lloyd commented, looking at the half-elves behind him pushing a rather slow pace.

"…The half-elves at the back have only had four hours of rest. If I push them too harshly now, they may not have the energy to fight tomorrow."

"Wow you actually understand what 'being harsh' means?"

Kratos smiled grimly "That's why I'm so good at it."

Lloyd snorted in vague amusement, tilting his head up to watch the rising sun as they made their way east to the Giant Kharlan Tree.

--

10 o'clock.

Kratos stood on the rock formation, watching the sun before turning back to look at the straggling line of half-elves staggering up the hill.

"Sequoia!"

The girl looked up at the name, yellow eyes catching the light. "Yeah?"

"Pass a message down the line. We're taking a break once everyone has reached the top of the hill.

She nodded and ran off to spread the message as Kratos sank onto a rock, being joined shortly by a group of half-elves proving themselves to be quite adept.

"We're stopping?" One asked, settling himself onto a rock opposite Kratos.

Kratos nodded absent mindedly.

"The others will take ages to catch up _and _rest."

"Yes. But we don't have any other choice."

"We could leave them behind."

Garnet eyes strayed slowly to the half-elf. "Not if you don't want to be slaughtered within the first five minutes."

The young man turned away, arms crossed. "We'll never get there at this rate."

Kratos stood abruptly, standing on top of the rock like a sentinel, sharp eyes watching the nearest half-elves trudge up the hill before swapping to the ones who were the farthest away. Half a mile.

At least.

Shaking his head he turned his attention to the way they'd be _going_ and he sighed heavily.

The halfling was right. They wouldn't make it in time.

--

Zelos coughed heavily, trying to expel a cloud of rock dust that he had just breathed in.

"It's collecting in my lungs, I swear." He gasped out to Sheena between coughs. Sheena responded by thwacking him heavily on the back.

"Not helping!" he choked.

"Take a break!" A voice called from the back of the group. "All of you."

"Thanks boss." The ex-chosen gasped, flopping to the floor in an attempt to cough out all the dust from his lungs.

Lloyd knelt down beside him, a hand on his shoulder to help steady the red head as he continued to cough, eyes watering steadily now.

"You're not gonna be able to work down here much longer if you carry on like this."

"Oh no! Don't say that Lloyd, I love working here!"

Sheena rested a hand on Zelos' other shoulder. "Fine, but think about what else they could reassign you to if you can't work down here."

"…Fair point," He wiped a stream of tears away "But...aren't we almost through anyway?"

"It will take approximately 3.6 hours to complete the tunnel." Presea stated, joining the small group at the end of the tunnel.

"So that'll be what time exactly?" Lloyd asked, hand running through dusty hair.

"5:50 pm."

"What?! It's like 2 o'clock! I have to do this for another 3 hours."

"That's what she just said Zelos." Sheena stated.

"But…but!"

"We start working again in 10 minutes." Lloyd stated, watching the rest of the team as they sat around the tunnel chatting in their break.

"Lets just hope that Kratos will get here in time."

--

Light. It fell through splinters in dull brown rock walls, illuminating a dull passage previously lit by the unsteady flicker of oil lamps.

Zelos slammed his pickaxe into the split in the rock, watching with a satisfied smirk as more material fell away, white light now pouring in through the widening hole.

"We're almost there guys!"

"I'd think that's obvious Zelos." Sheena griped, pulling a large chunk of rock away with her bare hands, producing a head sized hole.

"Just trying to boost morale, Sheen."

"Zel look around," she gestured to the other workers as they worked on the rest of the wall, creating their own gaps as they angled the tunnel steeply upwards. One of them grinned at Zelos and Sheena tiredly, clearly relieved and satisfied that the end was now in sight.

"Morale's already high."

"Well then, we better get on a make this hole bigger huh?"

The pickaxe swung up, loosening another chunk, Sheena doing the same on his left until the gaps in the rock face were interconnecting, until there was no rock face anymore.

Just open air above them.

Blue sky.

Sheena grinned widely for the first time in weeks, feeling fresh air drift into the tunnel, the smell of salt water washing down onto them.

"Boss!"

Footsteps, two pairs, light and quick echoed down the tunnel, their creators catching up with the noise a second later as they rounded a slight bend.

"Whoah! That's…"

"The tunnel is completed."

"So…" Zelos settled into his usual cocky pose, something he hadn't done since having his hair cut "Can we go up?"

"Uh…I think I have to go first." Lloyd answered, merging into the back of the group to look up out of the hole.

"I shall return to the guards and inform them of our progress."

"Presea?"  
"If one of us does not report soon they will become suspicious. They will want to move the scientists down soon too."

"…Alright. These guys are coming up with me, right?"

"Yes. They'll be allowed to rest before…returning to the main base."  
"Which will be when?"  
"Tomorrow. At noon."

Lloyd grinned. "Yeah…of course they'll be going back to main base…"

"Don't give anything away, Lloyd." Presea warned, before turning on her heel and walking back into the dark of the tunnel, taking a small oil lamp with her.

"Alright guys," Lloyd clapped loudly, drawing the attention of the group. "Shall we get some fresh air?"

Cheers ran around the group at Lloyd's suggestion and they grew as Lloyd got a boost up from Zelos, grabbing onto the ledge and pulling himself up before turning, helping Zelos and Sheena up before pulling each of the workers up in turn.

Sheena breathed in deeply, gazing up at a blue sky, a single white cloud drifting lazily across it.

"God it feels good to be out in the open for a change."

Murmurs of agreement and appreciation met her comment.

"So, boss," Zelos started, running his fingers through heavily knotted hair. "Where now?"

The young swordsman pointed to a hub at the far end of the spit of land they had come up on. The former mana cannon stood a few feet away, surrounded by islands that were formerly part of Tethe'alla's geography.

"We're supposed to go in there. You'll be fed and they should let you rest before we 'return' tomorrow."

"Well I won't say no to that." Someone commented from amongst the group. Lloyd nodded.

"Let's go."

--

It was white inside the hub, stark white and filled with machinery, loud, ugly and battleship grey….but this was a working area.

Lloyd sidled over to one of the half-elven scientists who had been transported over here months ago, nodding to Zelos and Sheena to go with the rest of the workers to the 'habitation' areas.

"How long do you think it'll take once the rest of the scientists are here?"

"Excuse me sir?" she shied away "I…I'm not sure if…"

"Don't worry. Just tell me…I'm trying to help."

She made a noise that probably would've been a snort of derision if she hadn't been terrified of him.

"Honestly." He murmured, watching out for any guards "See how pleased those other half-elves looked, even with me as their 'boss'?"

"Well yes but…"

"There's an escape plan."

"What?"

"Tomorrow. A group of fifty half-elves led by…an angel will come here. They'll take out the soldiers and get all the prisoners, you guys included back to safe ground."

"…when?" she whispered, eyes starting to brighten with hope.

"Around nine o'clock."

"What do you need me to do?"

"Stall the project, spread the word…and be ready to run."

"What about…we can't leave the project running."

"Sabotage the machines when I give the signal…"

"Which is?"

Lloyd shrugged. "Probably something along the lines of 'hey look, an angel'."

"And we're to tell the other scientists from the main base once they arrive?"

"Exactly…you ok with that?"

A small smile, hesitant, graced her lips.

"Yes, sir."

--

Kratos tilted his head as he looked up into an orange sky, dimming light highlighting the clean lines of his profile.

Night was drawing in and they were just on the edge of the remains of the Tower of Salvation.

The seraph watched out of the corner of his eye as a trail of exhausted half-elves filed past the chunk of fallen tower he was standing on, the last few dregs stumbling past him.

Sequoia had taken them to the area of the plateau that would serve as camp for the night and Kratos was merely bringing up the rear.

Waiting until he was sure the last few would be able to make it to the camp with no problems he drew out his wings and took flight, retracing the path they had taken to get here, scanning the path for any of the recruits that may have fallen behind. He had counted one-hundred-and-forty-eight as they had walked past him, but it didn't hurt to check. Besides, it gave him a chance to think to the morning ahead without interruption.

Everything was planned, ready to go ahead. The troops had arrived safely, if exhausted. The tunnel should be completed. Lloyd should be ready for action, as well as Regal, Presea, Zelos and Sheena. The only doubt that now remained was as to whether the person he was desperate to rescue was alive…or whether she was still the person he remembered.

Garnet eyes drifted shut as he remembered the last time he had seen her, a hazy view of blue and white as both of them were dragged away before he had been enveloped by darkness.

Was she safe and well? Had she been abused to the point of breaking?...he doubted it, Raine was far too strong a person for that to happen easily but…all it took was the right method, the right issue and a person could shatter like glass.

He should know. He had caused that to happen so many times before at the will of Mithos…

Shaking his head he opened his eyes, scanning the ground below before pulling up in the air and turning. He had already travelled miles…there was no way anyone could be left any further behind than this.

He turned his thoughts back to tomorrow morning, flying at a more leisurely pace.

At roughly seven o'clock in the morning a contingent of approximately fifty of the recruits, led by Colette and Coe, would fly to the mana cannon by Rheiard. Once there they would infiltrate the base, wipe out any soldiers and evacuate the half-elf captives.

Any remaining captives who were willing to fight back against the Saloth'sarians would then join Lloyd, Zelos, Sheena and the original party of recruits in returning to the main base of Saloth'sar, attacking them from the inside.

That would be approximately half past nine in the morning.

Whilst the smaller party left for the mana cannon, the remainder would prepare to attack the Saloth'sarian base and would do so at approximately nine o'clock…and that would be where everything could go wrong…

If timing was off, they could lose a good percentage of their own ranks at the initial attack.

Sequoia was to go in first, on her own, to act as a decoy, hopefully drawing off the main guards posted at the gates. She would lead them into an ambush, neutralising them whilst Kratos led the remainder of the troops in for the main attack.

The main problem would be just how many of front guard followed Sequoia in the first place. If they didn't all leave, it could leave the remainder fighting off the guards left, who could easily call for back-up…and Kratos wanted to be well into the compound before that happened.

Which of course meant they would have to get the gates open, without forcing them, to get in relatively un-noticed.

The only option Kratos had in that regard was to simply fly over the gates and see if there was an opening mechanism in place that needed to be activated in order for them to open…something Lloyd had been unable to find out.

Regal couldn't very well have gone about asking into the mechanisms of gates to the compounds without raising suspicions and so they were simply winging it on that front.

Something the ex-mercenary didn't like doing in the slightest. He was already un-easy about the fact he would have to reveal his wings to the half-elves unless he was very very lucky and somehow got away with it. And a bunch of people you didn't know that well suddenly discovering you're an angel was not a good thing, considering the reactions of:

'Oh my God! An angel of Martel has descended to cast judgement upon us!'

that he usually got.

Of course, he usually did cast judgement on them after that…although not in the sense they were thinking of. Unfortunately, he simply couldn't afford to do that here, so he was going to have to reveal himself, deal with the initial consequences…and then hide out in some remote mountains for the next fifteen years.

Kratos grunted, at the thought, rubbing a hand tiredly at his temple.

This was of course, the initial stage of the plan. The 'making an entrance' stage.

After that they would probably have to fight their way through a rather large number of Saloth'sarian guards, before meeting up with Zelos, Sheena and Lloyd who should have already freed the human captive blocks.

Once that was done they were to travel to the main housing blocks and free the half-elf captives, which meant splitting up into two groups again.

The housing sections of the main building were split in two, one side for males, one side for females. The first three floors were taken up with cells and housing, as well as mess halls and work-areas. The floor above that was the laboratories.

Following the freeing of the captives in the main tower, Regal, Presea and Sheena would accompany the freed captives out of the immediate area, seeing them through the worst of the fighting, whilst escorted by the recruits that Kratos and Lloyd's respective teams had brought with them.

And then the final stages of the plan.

Infiltrate the building that housed the leader…and find Raine. And Genis, of course. Assuming they hadn't been with the main group of half-elves.

Even if they had, once they had been found, there was one more issue to be taken care of.

This so called _'Leader' _of the operation.

Kratos would be very happy to deal with that racist…

The seraph bit his lip. They would deal with the leader. They would see the half-elves out of the area, ensure the project was fully sabotaged and leave.

Whether they would live happily ever after or not remained to be seen. Although, Kratos fully intended to drag the Renegades into the rehabilitation of any of the captives that were suffering from any form of shock or trauma. He himself was not particularly good at that…even after four-thousand years of life, he didn't have the patience or compassion required to deal with people suffering from that form of abuse.

Unless he had a particular bond with said person…or was forced to help them recover. Like he had been with Anna. Not that he regretted that but he could all too easily recall the struggle it had been at first, to act like he genuinely cared for a complete and total stranger.

He had been lucky in that respect. He had grown to like and eventually love Anna. It was unlikely that that was going to occur if he was stuck helping a random group of half-elves recover from trauma or, god-forbid, Stockholm Syndrome.

Kratos banked, avoiding a thermal pocket in the air that would send him higher if his wings caught and descended gradually until he could land safely, a suitable distance from the camp before he walked to them.

He supposed a rousing speech would be called for given the situation, but as he entered the camp and looked around at the recruits, most of whom were already curled up next to each other on tattered blankets and drifting off to sleep, he decided it could wait until morning.

Colette, sitting by a fire, noted the entrance of the fellow angel and called him over to sit with her and Sequoia.

"Are we all ready for tomorrow?" Sequoia whispered as Kratos sat on a rock, taking a bowl of stew from Colette as she offered it to him.

"Assuming everyone is well aware of the plan."

She nodded, violet ponytail bouncing. "Yeah. But…you should probably go over it in the morning once everyone's woken up."

"I shall do."

"You should give them an inspirational speech too!" Colette chirped, waking a nearby half-elf who punched her tiredly in the leg in an attempt to stop her from being so shrill.

She apologised profusely before turning back to Kratos. "Really, you should."

A smile played across Kratos' lips at the young woman's enthusiasm and naivety, though it wasn't done unkindly. Rather, it was a genuine display of satisfaction that there was something that still remained so innocent in this world.

Kratos doubted if anything could take that from the blonde, having maintained it after all she had seen and been through.

"I understand that the situation would call for that typically but…I am not the best person for delivering speeches that rouse people to great acts of nobility…"

"Uh, Professor," Sequoia called his attention over to her "you inspire people to study, I mean _genuinely_ want to study angelology. Surely you can make them want to go into battle?"

"Kratos…Lloyd left this for you…just in case you couldn't think of anything to say." Colette handed him a folded piece of paper and Kratos slowly opened and read his son's hand-written words, smiling and shaking his head at what was written.

"Lloyd could pull this speech off…I couldn't."

"Why not?" the blonde asked, genuinely bemused.

"Because no-one would ever believe me if I said to them 'I know you're all scared and believe me, I'm scared too'."

Sequoia grinned. "Maybe not."

"_Maybe_not?" Kratos asked, one eyebrow lifted.

"Ok definitely not." She replied, before staring at Kratos quizzically as his face took on a rather bizarre expression before he covered his mouth with his hand and spat something out into it. He stared down at what was in his hand with an expression of pure disgust.

"Oh my gosh Kratos! I'm so sorry!" Colette squeaked, suddenly realising what was going on "I forgot you don't like tomatoes!"

"…Why…why are there tomatoes in _stew_?"

"I…was trying to make it more interesting."

"…I think you succeeded…"

"Maybe you should give a speech about the evils of tomatoes." Sequoia quipped and Kratos rolled his eyes, flicking the offending fruit from his hand in a random direction. Some poor half-elf would probably wake up the next morning to find it stuck to his or her head.

"I'll find something to say, I'm sure…"

--

Dawn.

Kratos had woken then. Four o'clock in the morning and thought about what to say to the troops...and he still had nothing.

It was now approaching seven o'clock.

The mana cannon contingent was getting ready to move and most were looking exceptionally nervous. He bit his lip, knowing he had to say something that would assure their participation.

"Nothing?" Sequoia asked.

"No." he replied shaking his head "But I'll attempt it anyway."

Striding over to a large peak of stone he whistled sharply, calling the attention of the recruits and slowly they all gathered around the rock, looking up at their leader expectantly.

He cleared his throat.

"I know you're all expecting some rousing, inspirational, heart-felt speech from me about how you can do the task that lies ahead…some series of cleverly spun words that tell you to be brave and go forth, or to prove yourself, or be noble and willing to sacrifice for the good of your race because it'll save the children…

"Well. I'm not going to. I'm not going to tell you how you'll go down in history as heroes because you won't. Think about Mithos the Hero, how he made a pact with the Goddess Martel…he didn't do that alone. He had companions, loyal friends and soldiers following him…and yet I'll be not one of you can name his closest companions, the ones who tried their best to aid him through thick and thin."

Silence.

"Exactly. Some of you may die and you won't be remembered by the world for it. So I won't tell you that you will. I'm certain the majority of you would see the words for the hollow, superficial nonsense they would be.

And my words alone will not inspire you…it is your own strength, will and beliefs that will give you the courage you need to complete the task ahead. So instead, I ask each of you to take a moment to think about why you're here…what you're fighting for."

He paused, watching expressions change, some hardening with resolve, others crumbling with indecision and he lifted his voice again.

"I'll share something with you though, for those of you struggling to find a reason to do this. I'll give you _my_reasons.

"No doubt a lot of you are wondering why I'm here so this is it…I'm doing this because…I want to rescue someone I've come to realise I care deeply for….it's only her absence that has made me realise it…" his voice had suddenly dropped to a whisper and he jerked his head up.

"But…she's not the only reason.

"I'm here because I need to prove to myself that…I _am_the person I've strived to be since I was a child. Or rather, that I can still become that person, no matter my sins and crimes.

"I can't change the wrongs I've done; I can't remove the pain I've caused people. If I could, I would. In a heartbeat. But I cannot.

So I must look to what I can do no matter how much I remember the darkness in my past or the memories I wish I didn't have. No matter how much I wish I hadn't moved on so that those events couldn't be my past.

That cannot happen and what I want to do is wash everything aside, everything that drags me down so I can pretend I'm not that person.

It would be easier to do that. To run….But the person I want to be, I_need _to be for the sake of the people I love wouldn't do that. So I will not either."

Kratos paused again, looking over the crowds to see if the words that were now springing to his lips easily were doing anything.

"What I'm attempting to say is…for those of you that fear what is to come in the next few hours…it _is _easier to run. Right here. Right now. It's the easier option to take…but it will haunt you, you'll torment yourself with guilt for years and you'll become exactly what I am bow. What I'm trying not to be.

So now _you _decide...honestly think about it and then tell me it's easier to run."

He waited, finding his breath coming in gasps as he hoped for a response.

"Who's willing to take on the Saloth'sarians with me?"

And it was with a sense of sheer relief and excitement that he saw one-hundred-and-forty-eight hands lift in unison.

* * *

So there you have it. Next chapter, the invasion begins. 

Now, there's something I'd like to mention that you might find interesting Kraine fans, if you don't already know. Basically, there's a Kraine forum filled with...well, Kraine (d'uh) stuff. Pics, fan fics, discussions etc etc. What you'd expect from a forum, really, that desperately needs some new blood. It's a great site, it just needs a few more people. I'm already a member (under the name Tourniquet1960) and I occasionally post new work there _before _I post it here.

If anybody's interested, please contact me for the address/ make a note that you want me to send it to you in a review - a signed one (hint hint). I would post it here but ff seems to have a major problem with address codes unfortunately.

Hope you don't all know about it already and are interested. Because the Kraine forum on here is dead.

Anyhoo. See you next chapter.


	19. Half of everything

A.N: Well hello people and as always thanks for the reviews I've been recieving. Muchly appreciated.

Slight warning for this chapter: Some infrequent, mild language and cliff-hangers.

Enjoy!

* * *

Half of everything

A few hours. That's all she had now.

Raine slotted the chunk of Aionis that she had been supplied with from…well, she didn't know where, into the machine that would powder it for her.

After that she would have to take the sample out and mix it with a highly acidic liquid that the powered rock could dissolve into before adding enough of an alkaline solution to neutralise it. And then make sure it was the right concentration.

Normally, according to Yuan anyway, Aionis would be heated an melted into a liquid and could therefore be injected in a series of…injections. That's what Zelos had gone through too…and what Kratos had talked about during the world regeneration journey.

Of course, there was no sacred wood anymore. It was all gone and so it couldn't be processed straight into a liquid, meaning that getting it into an applicable form was a rather long, tedious task.

But Gods, she was so close now, wasn't she?

The solution would be ready in two hours if she worked efficiently and then she could take it and inject it into that bastard of a 'leader'.

What would happen after that, she wasn't sure, whether you were talking about immediately or in a few days.

He wouldn't have her killed, not straight away, that she _was_sure of. He would want her to suffer and die like all the other half-elves would should that bomb be released, just to prove that despite her high level of intelligence, to her he was still just a filthy half-elf.

How nice of him.

Of course, it wouldn't matter soon. Not as long as everything went according to plan.

Sighing, she sat back to watch the machine do its work, wondering vaguely how her former cell-mates were doing, if they had broken out yet.

She looked up at the clock. Half past eight in the morning. They had been working for hours already, though she had only been brought up here half an hour ago or so.

The labs were quiet today though, she noted, looking out of the window to the lab that was usually humming with activity.

The lab, usually filled with maybe 60 half-elven scientists all scurrying around busily, held a mere ten this morning. Of course, most of them had been shipped out yesterday to finish working on the former mana cannon that was going to act as this genocide bomb. The focal point of the Loras Project.

She shuddered.

It was due to be set off at noon today. If Kratos and the others hadn't gotten to it by that time…there was little hope for her race but…at least the leader would be dead too.

With little else to do while the machine did its work, Raine pushed herself out of her chair to stroll around the laboratory, thinking about the situation, wishing the familiar mana of Yuan was being emitted from the generator.

It wasn't, of course, because Yuan was still in the dungeon and would be until they wanted to the bomb to go off. He would be hooked up to it and his mana would be used, after refinement, to target all the other half-elves in the world.

A thought struck her. If Yuan died…the project may well be obsolete and though she wouldn't be able to harm the man herself…he was on his last legs. If he didn't get medical attention soon, he would be past the point of recovery…maybe she could push him a little, tire him out so that when it came to powering the machine his body would simply…give up.

It wasn't a nice thought or action but…Yuan had admitted he had thought abut finishing himself off so that he couldn't be used….and that had been when he had first got here. By now, it was probably at the front of his thoughts. The only reason he hadn't done it already was because he hadn't had the chance to. The reason he had been chained up was not because he needed restraining for the guards safety but rather his own. Apparently they had caught him trying to slit his wrists with the edge of a sharp rock he had found on the floor of his dungeon.

Besides, the seraph had had a good run. Four thousand years was hardly a lifespan to sniff at, and though he hadn't achieved many of what people considered to be the 'main goals' in life, such as marrying and having a family…it was doubtful he'd achieve that now anyway. Plus, he had at least found love once, he had had his friends, his moments of glory. In all honesty, he had achieved more than a normal person would ever hope to.

Yes, maybe she'd talk to him about the idea of helping him…save his race.

The machine powdering the Aionis whirred loudly and Raine jumped up, pulling a plate of processed power from the machine and sliding it into a beaker before replacing the plate and looking up at the clock again.

Twenty minutes to nine.

Maybe this wouldn't take as long as she thought.

--

It was ready.

Oh Gods.

It was _actually _ready.

The syringe was in her hand, filled with the solution, a cap on the end protecting the thin metal needle. The guard was outside the door waiting for her.

Raine turned, catching the guard's eye and he entered.

"You can tell the leader that it's ready."

"I informed him that you were close to finishing about half an hour ago. He's been very excited ever since."

A dark smile twisted Raine's lips. "I bet."

"So…what is that?" the guard asked, sidling over to her.

"It would be in your best interest not to know…if you did know what this was for, I imagine the leader would be dealing you some extreme punishment."

The guard seemed to edge away slightly.

"Uh...shall I take you to him then?"

"That would be a good start. Wouldn't want to keep him waiting now would we?"  
"I…suppose not."

He led her out of the lab as usual, down the elevator and along the back passages of the building to the crossing glass bridges that led to the uppermost dungeon level of the other tower.

They took the glass elevator up to the meeting room where Raine stepped out, noting with some trepidation that he wasn't following her.

It would just be her and him alone. Again.

Trying to feign the confidence she had shown just a few minutes ago she stepped into the meeting room.

He was already there, settled on the sofa, calmly drinking a cup of tea. As if he wasn't going to wipe out an entire race in two hours.

"Good morning."

She stiffened at the greeting as he turned to look at her, refusing to answer.

"Not talking hmm? Very well, then give me the injection and then I'll leave you to do…whatever it is you want to do with the last two hours of your pathetic life. I might even let you be reunited with your brother."

She approached slowly, still giving him no verbal response. The 'Leader' shrugged.

"Any particular body part you would like me to present?" he asked, grinning at his semi-innuendo.

"An arm will be fine."

He pushed up the sleeve of his robe, letting her take the limb in her hand and push the needle into a vein.

His free hand grabbed hers before she pushed the liquid in. "That better had be the cure."

"Do you honestly think I'm stupid enough to try anything? Besides what would be the point? In a few hours I'll be dead, along with the rest of my kind."

"I'm glad you appreciate that."

He released her and Raine, with an almost sickening sense of satisfaction, depressed the plunger, shooting the liquid into his bloodstream. She left the needle in for a few seconds after before pulling it out slowly.

"It'll take effect in about half an hour…and there will be side effects."

"Such as?" he tugged down the sleeve of his robe.

"Nausea, dizziness, fainting spells. They're all quite normal."

"I see."

"And…I wouldn't call a doctor…they're hardly going to be able to help."

"Excuse me?"  
"It's in your blood stream now…no turning back. Nothing can be done to stop the agent taking action on your body."  
A guard burst in suddenly, sweating heavily, the door slamming open with a resounding crash as he stood in the doorway.

"My Lord!"

"What's the meaning of this?!" The leader thundered, jumping up from his place on the sofa, brushing past Raine who shuddered, to advance on the guard.

"My apologies, sire, but we have an emergency!"

"What is it?!"

The soldier swallowed heavily. "Sir…we have intruders…and they're releasing the captives."

Raine's heart leapt into her throat and she tried desperately not to let any emotion appear on her face at the news, despite her heart now pounding in excitement. Someone was here. They had come for them…and she couldn't help wonder if it was Kratos…

The Leader turned slowly, eyes locking onto Raine.

"What do you know of this?"

"Nothing."

"Really?"

"How would I have contacted the outside world in anyway? I've been under guard or locked up constantly. I haven't even been allowed to go to the bathroom without someone coming in with me."

The Leader's eyes narrowed at her before he turned back to the guard.

"Deploy all defensive and offensive units. Stop the captives escape by any means necessary…Kill the intruders."

Grey eyes flicked back to her as if to gauge her reaction. She gave none.

"And have someone escort Ms. Sage down to her dungeon."

The guard nodded and scurried away.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I'll go and watch the events unfold from." he pointed to the ceiling, meaning the room above.

"Oh and Ms. Sage, I thank you most deeply for the services you've performed for me in the past month." He grinned sarcastically.

Raine glanced to the servant who had just entered to escort her downstairs. She almost went straight with him, but she just couldn't resist that one last chance to get her own back verbally.

Turning back towards the leader, she smiled broadly and bowed.

"Oh, the pleasure was all mine, my Lord."

And she turned on her heel, leaving the room, knowing she had left the man confused and uneasy as she strolled into the elevator.

At least that was one down…

--

Kratos spun, lashing to the right with his blade, slicing cleanly through the neck of a soldier as he ran towards him, screaming.

Through the corner of his eye he could see Lloyd fighting off his own soldier, the man dropping to the floor suddenly as Zelos appeared, carving through his torso neatly.

Blood spattered gun-metal grey walls in a macabre display, blurring past Kratos as he sprinted for the far end of the room, rushing through the door and searching for the control room for this floor.

Regal was at his side a moment later, a key card in his hand. He pointed to a door a short way down the corridor and the two men rushed for it, listening unconsciously as Zelos and Lloyd shouted instructions to the captive male half-elves in the cells.

"Hey! The intruders, I've found them!" Kratos turned from the door to see a single soldier standing at the far end of the corridor, calling down more of his colleagues.

"Get the cells unlocked." He muttered to Regal.

The blue-haired man nodded, swiping the key card through the lock and plunging into the room.

Kratos ran for the new soldier, sword at his side, clenched tightly in his hand as he tore through the corridor, slamming to a halt as he reached the soldier.

The blade swung in a wide right arc as the seraph noted another soldier running towards him, approaching from the left and he turned instantly, facing the man head on. The blade bit through him as the angel backed up a step swinging the sword right again, head down as the sword ploughed into the other man.

It lodged in the man's breastplate, trapped in a crack in the worn metal and Kratos tugged at it, trying to free the blade, but to no avail.

He gritted his teeth, noting one final soldier approaching him. Rolling his eyes at the inconvenient time for his sword to become lodged he backed away, one hand resting on the handle of his sword.

The soldier smirked, figuring the angel to be helpless without a viable weapon.

Unfortunately for him…he was wrong..

Kratos gripped the handle tightly, waiting for the man to come within a few feet of his fallen comrade, before lunging forward, pressing all his weight onto the sword and kicking forcefully at the man.

The soldier stumbled back from the force of the kick as the sword in Kratos' hand dislodged from its wielder's weight.

Wrenching it from the body, Kratos regained his footing before turning to look at his opponent, throwing himself forwards, driving the metal through his stomach before he had time to realise what had happened.

Blood spurted from the body as Kratos pulled the sword free and turned, sprinting back to the control room that Regal had disappeared into.

"The cells are open." Regal informed him, stepping out of the room.

Kratos nodded. "Then Lloyd and Zelos should…"

The double doors of the 'housing' room opened as Lloyd and Zelos stepped out, a seemingly end-less line of half-elves clustered behind them.

"We have one more floor to clear," Kratos stated as Lloyd led the group out "Then we must meet with the others and guide the captives to the exit."

Lloyd nodded.

"Or at least., a few of us need to do that and a few of us need to go and sort out the…uh…_bigger _problem."

"Yes. But our priority at this moment is to get them out." The seraph gestured to the half-elves.

"Ok then. So let's stop wasting time and get on with it."

--

He paced back and forth on his balcony, watching anxiously at the battle going on within his camp, wringing his hands.

Surely the pathetic band of half blooded rats that some idiot had collected could not oppose the might of his army?

No, of course not. _His _army, the Saloth'sarian army were human. Pure blood. There was no way they could lose to a bunch of weak individuals that were neither one thing nor another.

The Leader bit his lip, watching through a pair of binoculars, trying to make out his own forces amidst a mass of writhing colour as literally thousands of people swarmed about the compound.

They appeared to be evenly matched at the moment, the half-elven intruders managing to make a little way against his highly trained soldiers before being pushed back again.

But not all the way back. Only half the way.

They were advancing a step at a time.

Of course, there were a limited number of them, and in comparison, an endless supply of his soldiers. Grunting, he left the window to use one of the projectors in his chambers to watch the fight from the frontlines, climbing onto his bed, feeling fatigued and nauseous.

The side effects of the treatment, as the half-elven woman had told him.

Raine Sage.

A wonderful specimen, considering her kind, but it was such a shame that she possessed only half the blood she needed to. Otherwise he might have considered keeping her alive.

Panting a little, he turned on the projection screen, switching the view to watch the entrance to the captive's housing unit. It of course was an entrance to the labs and staff quarters, but those were further up the building, above the steps that led to the reception level just above the laboratories.

And his breath caught in his throat.

There were hundreds of them pouring down the stairs. His captives. His victims, being led by…the blue haired man and the pink haired woman he had employed. His hired tunnelling supervisors…._they_had been the ones constructing the escape plan the rats had been whispering about.

Rage engulfed him, hands clenching as he bolted from the bed, snatching a broadsword from the wall and heading for the elevator.

He'd show them what happens to a human that helps a half-elf.

But something made him stop, a tightness working up his throat and he backed away from the door he had been heading for before turning and retching.

His body convulsed in time with his heaves, muscles spasming, unable to support him and the Leader fell onto his plush carpet stained with his own vomit.

He felt weak, cold, helpless and there was no one he could call for aid. No-one to serve him…because they were all in battle.

His body unable to move, and breathing slowing, becoming shallower, he let his head fall to the floor, one thing clear in his mind as he started to fade.

That bitch of a half-elf had betrayed him and he remembered that smile as she left, the words that had confused him at the time.

'_The pleasure was all mine, my lord.'_

--

Kratos watched the last few half-elves trickle through the doors, led away by Regal and Presea with Sequoia and Coe taking up the rear of the group.

The seraph noted the 'Good luck' that the young girl mouthed at him before she left and he nodded in appreciation for the sentiment, listening as the sounds of battle from outside were all but cut off by the glass door sliding shut.

He turned back to his rescue group. Lloyd, Zelos, Sheena and of course, himself.

He doubted that Zelos was going to be a huge amount of help though, because despite the ex-chosen's impressive standard of performance so far (considering his physical condition) it was obvious that he was beginning to weaken.

The red-head wasn't about to leave though and Kratos had little choice but to let him tag along unless he wanted to physical remove the other angel. Which would take time. Time that they didn't have. True, the Loras project was destroyed and the half-elven race safe but the people who had just left the building most certainly weren't and there was still the matter of rescuing Raine and Genis _and_sorting out the boss of the operation to attend to.

"Are we ready to go?"

He received nods in response, still finding himself uncharacteristically shocked by Zelos' roughly trimmed hair and having to drag attention away from the frayed ends. Still…the look really didn't suit him.

"Alright, you know what to do once we're there, yes?"

"Yup. We take a dungeon level each. Zelos and I take the top level," Sheena recited "Lloyd takes middle and you take bottom."

"And once we've rescued anyone down there we sort out this leader." Lloyd finished.

"Correct. Let's go."

They ran. Sprinting through glass corridors Kratos noted the few stragglers that wandered around the back of the building disorientated. Dying Saloth'sarian soldiers.

They burst into another reception hall, as generically furnished as the one before, and Kratos felt his skin prickle instantly at the faint feel of mana in the air.

Wordlessly, the small party headed for the glass elevator set into one of the walls and descending into the depths of this new tower.

Floors of pristine marble gave way to wet, rugged rock walls covered in fungi, mosses and lichen. When Zelos and Sheena stepped out onto the first floor, Kratos found himself almost forced back by the stench of death on this floor. Blood and sweat and excrement and mildew and…fear. It lingered on in that corridor and as Kratos watched the level rise above his head and out of sight he knew it was only going to get worse.

The elevator slid to a halt. Lloyd waited for the glass door to slide open before stepping out. He halted, turned, eyes locking with his father's and Kratos nodded in understanding.

Lloyd gave him a grim smile before walking further into the corridor and the elevator door slid shut again.

Kratos exhaled a calming breath as his son disappeared from view, sinking once again into blackness as he descended to the level below.

The stench washed over him before the elevator had even stopped its descent and as the door opened the angeology found himself almost suffocating under the weight of the thick smell. It was just like that of the floor above…but stronger, much stronger.

Grimacing, he took a few shallow breaths before stepping out into the corridor. It was darker here than the upper floors too, the yellow oil lamps almost burnt out and it was only due to his sharp eyes that he was able to see into the deep shadows of doorways.

He walked with his head down in concentration, relying on his hearing to guide him to any survivors as he made his way slowly around the winding, singular path of the dungeons.

There didn't seem to be any form of life down here.

He continued walking for another ten minutes, finding himself at a dead end and he grunted unhappily, wishing there was a way to contact the others to know if they had found Genis or Raine.

Turning back, Kratos headed out the way he came, focusing on where he was going now instead o any life signs…when a sharp, hacking sound resounded around the dungeon.

He froze, turning slowly towards the direction it had come from and heading for it slowly, listening intently for a sound again, eyes scanning the darkness ahead, unhooking a lantern from the wall to carry with him as he headed for a niche in the rock wall.

Yellow light hit a rusted door that once would have been painted black and Kratos hurried over to it, listening again as he approached before kicking a loose stone loudly, wondering if it would invoke a response.

There! In the silence a small gasp or breath or some such noise and the seraph turned his attention to studying the door, looking for a lock

A series of dead-bolts. About five of them. That was it.

Frowning and wondering if this were some trick, he cautiously pulled the bolts back, watching corroded metal powdering as it scraped together heavily.

He grasped the handle to the door, turning it slowly, letting his eyes adjust to the almost pitch blackness as he stepped in cautiously.

And then something was slamming into him, tackling him into a hidden part of the cell, trying to pin his hands down.

Whatever it was, it wasn't doing a very good job and Kratos flipped them over, pinning his attacker into the position they had tried to get him in.

He released his wings, wanting more light, relying on the brightness that shimmered along his feathers to illuminate the dungeon in a fantastic pallet of blue, gold and silver, like electricity running along the walls.

Kratos looked down at his assailant, mouth dropping open quietly as he found himself staring into the face of an equally stunned Raine Sage.

--

If there was one thing in the world that the Leader hated, it was quitters. More specifically, half-elven quitters, and he was damned if he was going to let himself become one of those.

With a gargantuan effort, he pulled himself to his feet, staggering amongst the patches of vomit that were soaking into his expensive crimson carpet and heading for the door. Trembling fingers wrapped around the handle of a broadsword, dragging the heavy metal along behind him weakly.

She thought she could kill him?

He'd show her.

* * *

So...hope it was ok. Almost at the end now.

Reviews are appreciated as always.

* * *


	20. Escape

A.N: Chapter 19, here for your enjoyment.

* * *

Escape

Trembling white fingers reached out to run along a plain of skin that was only a shade darker than the digits skimming down to a familiar, strong jaw-line. Blue eyes met garnet, locking and holding an equally stunned gaze.

"Kratos?"

A silent nod that caused auburn strands to quiver with the movement. He seemed to realise the position he was in with her a moment later, for he pulled away and stood, offering a hand to her. She took it gratefully, letting him help her to her feet.

"Are you ok?"

"…Yes…just…surprised. I didn't expect to see you again."

"Nor I. I'm relieved to see that you're well…considering the situation."

"You know, this beautiful reunion of two people who didn't realise they were in love with each other is very touching…but we don't really have time for it."

Kratos spun at the voice, recognising it instantly.

"Yuan?"

"Who else?"

Blue light spilt over Yuan's form, the bright light causing the weakened seraph to flinch away as Kratos approached him, eyebrows furrowed slightly and lips parted in dismay at his friend's condition.

"Well this would explain why the Renegades looked so flustered when I asked to see you."

A weak nod followed from Yuan in response.

"It would."

The auburn haired seraph knelt next to the other, eyes flicking to Raine briefly as she stepped into the halo of light from Kratos' mana.

"We need to get out of here as soon as possible."

"Obviously."

"But…" Garnet and emerald eyes turned to meet blue simultaneously. "Genis…and the other half-elves…"

"Lloyd is on the mid-level searching for Genis, Zelos and Sheena are on the top floor searching for anyone else and all the other captives have been freed. Regal and Presea are leading them out."

"Alone?! What about all the guards?"

"It's being taken care of. We have to go."

He turned his attention to Yuan. "Can you walk?"

"Do I look like I can?"

"No."

"Then I probably can't."

"A simple 'no' would have sufficed."

"Probably."

Rolling his eyes, Kratos dipped slightly, slipping an arm around Yuan's back, the other sliding under his knees to lift him from the ground.

"Wait!" Raine trotted over to them, kneeling on Yuan's other side "If you lift him now the cables will tear his wings off."

"…Your wings are present?"

Yuan nodded, a dry rustle drawing Kratos' attention and he found Yuan's wings all but completely stripped of feathers, the bare frame left behind. White mana cables lay on the floor having fallen off when the majority of his feathers had been lost.

"Put them away Yuan…what's left of them anyway, it may save you some energy."

Branch like appendages folded back inside a weak body, tucked neatly between shoulder blades in a raw mana form as Kratos lifted Yuan from the ground, his own wings still out to provide light.

Raine stood and headed for the door, Kratos in tow, pushing it open and stepping out into an eerily empty corridor.

"Left down the corridor then right," Kratos directed and Raine followed his directions without a moment's hesitation until they had eventually reached the tube like lift.

The scholar packed herself in, pressing against cold glass as Kratos and Yuan followed, the latter barely moving in his old friend's arms. Somewhere along the walk to the lift, he had slipped into unconsciousness.

"Will he…?"

"Survive? …possibly. It depends on how quickly we can…attend to the problem of this so called 'Leader'."

"I…don't think that will be a problem."

Raine turned slightly, staring into darkness as the lift rose.

"Why?"

"…He should be dead by now…"

Kratos raised an eyebrow, a silent gesture to elaborate.

"The Leader of the Saloth'sarians was a half-elf himself…he just didn't think of himself as one. Of course, when he ordered the Loras Project to be undertaken that left him in a predicament."

"It would kill him as well as every other half-elf."  
"Exactly. So…he asked me to find a way to make him human."

"That's not possible."  
"Which is what I told him…which, obviously, he didn't appreciate…so I told him I could save him from the bomb…"

"How?"

"By turning him into a pure-blood elf."  
The seraph's brow furrowed as they past the first floor of the dungeon. "That's not possible either."

"Then what does Aionis do to the body, Kratos?"

"It adds a magical element to pure, human blood, as you know."  
"Essentially turning them into a half-elf, yes?"

"…Not genetically but in principle it would."

"Which I'm aware of. Unfortunately for him, he wasn't…the information Yuan provided me with about the effects of Aionis on the human body proved to be very useful."

Raine could see realisation dawn on Kratos.

"Too much Aionis would prove to be fatal on any human blood present…" he turned to her "you poisoned him by overdosing him."

She nodded, looking up as the next floor up came into view. "He should already be dead."

Kratos shook his head, though whether it was in dismay or…any other emotion, Raine couldn't tell.

"You're a wonder sometimes, Raine."

Raine stared, taken aback and opened her mouth to reply when the door of the elevator slid open and Kratos stepped out into the main reception hall…and when she saw who was standing there, she laughed with relief and pleasure, rushing forwards to embrace her little brother.

They hugged fiercely, Raine holding Genis who now stood at least a full head over her against her, somehow managing to overpower his attempts to free himself.

"Raine," he choked "I'm glad to see you to but….it would be nice to be able to…breathe."

Glancing at the tight hold she had on him, Raine released Genis to look around to meet the gazes of Zelos and Sheena, all relieved to see her well.

Her eyes caught on the frayed ends of Zelos' severed hair.

"What…?"  
"I don't wanna talk about it," he shifted his eyes away "Let's talk about you…what's new with..?"

A choking gasp interrupted him just as he had Raine and the party turned to see Kratos lowering a coughing Yuan to the floor, his arm still supporting his back. Lloyd was knelt at their sides, clearly wanting to help but not being able to.

"How…since when has Yuan been here?" Sheena asked, eyes trailing over the seraph's pale body.

"Since before any of you were brought in. Potentially 6 months or so…at the very least that was the last time I saw him and I was one of the last visitor's he had, according to the Renegades."

"6 months?! God it's only about a month and I'm already traumatised by this place." The ninja stated, shifting her weight to one leg.

Zelos lifted an eyebrow. "Traumatised?"

"Ok, maybe that's too strong a word but…"

"His mental state is not a concern at this point," Kratos stated "Mentally, Yuan has been through much more taxing situations. It is his physical health that is at stake."

"How did they manage to do that to him, though?...I mean, he's a_ seraph_, you guys are like, indestructible."

"Not quite…as to how he's in this state it would be likely due to…"

"Mana deprivation," Raine cut in, "The tracking device that the Loras project used was based on Yuan's own mana, they were draining it from him and into the project."

"Which would leave anyone weakened and vulnerable. In the case of a seraph, it would reduce us to a state which is more…"

"Normal?" Lloyd suggested.

"I was going to say…human but…I suppose that 'normal' is a vaguely suitable term."

"So they reduce him to a human level and then pound the crap out of him?" Zelos asked, leaning forwards to look at Yuan.

"It was not so much 'pounding the crap out of him', as you put it, young man, so much as rough handling on the guards part."

Genis jumped at the voice, spinning towards the owner of the voice as everyone else turned at a more dignified pace, Raine backing away slightly, already aware of whom it was.

Standing in the doorway to the meeting room, was the Leader.

"Who the hell are you?" Lloyd asked, instantly jumping to his feet and taking a protective stance in front of his friends.

The Leader waved a pale, trembling hand. "That is of little concern to you, boy."

"Lloyd," Genis' hand curled around Lloyd's forearm "this is the Leader of the Saloth'sarians."

"How?..." Raine breathed. Kratos' asked flicked up to her face before travelling across to the drawn features of the leader.

"…Am I alive? After you tried to murder me…it seems I'm not as weak as you think, Raine." He took a staggered step forwards, dragging a heavy broadsword behind him.

"Are you sure about that?" Lloyd asked, an edge of cockiness creeping into his voice "You can hardly stand…much less use that sword."  
"Lloyd. Don't antagonise an enemy who has nothing to lose, he's still dangerous despite his physical condition." Kratos warned, straightening his back.

"But…"

"Enough, get back here."

"Your friend has some intelligence, Raine, at least one of them does."

"What do you hope to achieve by doing this?"

"What else than your death?"

"You're not strong enough to lift that weapon."

"Are you willing to take that risk?"

Kratos watched silently as Raine took a few steps towards the man, hoping she knew what she was doing. Tensing, he quietly instructed Lloyd to watch over Yuan and stood, pushing Genis behind him, standing in front of Zelos and Sheena, shielding them.

For all the enthusiasm they had every one of them, with the exception of Lloyd, was not in a state to handle the situation.

Raine was speaking to the Leader, her tone clipped and harsh as an ancient dialect of the angelic language fell from her lips and Kratos listened cautiously, becoming more on edge as she spoke. The Leader's expression was darkening at her words and Kratos gripped the hilt of his sword firmly. She was treading dangerously.

Leaning back slightly, Kratos tapped Zelos' arm.

"Get everyone out of here."

"What about Raine?"

"I'll sort that out, you have to get the rest of them out of here."

"If you say so."

The red-head turned, whispering to the group, ushering them towards the door. Kratos watched out of the corner of his eye as Zelos and Sheena physically removed a struggling Genis from the corridor. The Leader was oblivious as Raine goaded him, but he suddenly realised when she glanced behind her at where they had been standing, that she had simply tried to create a diversion for the rest of them to get out of there.

He had underestimated her again. Apparently he didn't know her as well as he thought he did…and to his surprise, it didn't alarm him to discover that…it _interested _him.

Now, however, wasn't the appropriate time to be interested in that because the Leader was becoming more and more enraged at Raine's words. Kratos took a small step forwards, finding himself becoming almost nervous at the situation, weakened, the Leader may have been, but anger could make the mind master of the body when the physical side was all but spent. It was the same as a parent being able to perform amazing feats of strength to save their child and at the thought Kratos looked back towards the passage that Lloyd had just taken.

A roar somewhere between anger and pain was ripped suddenly from the Leader's throat as he dived for Raine, sword held high above his head.

Another break in concentration, and it was about to cost Kratos dearly. Again.

He was moving before he was even aware of it, and with a gasp of pain, he found himself standing between the leader and Raine, a sword embedded in his abdomen.

The seraph looked down, took a staggered step backwards, felt small, elegant hands at his shoulders, smelt his blood as it spilt from his body, heard Raine's voice shouting for him in panic and worry…

And he was damned if he was going to let this new wound stop him from protecting someone so precious to him…to life.

Planting a foot behind him as he took another staggered step back, Kratos steadied himself.

"How sweet, you have a knight in shining armour, Raine," the leader mocked, a hissing laugh escaping pale lips. "Too bad he's going to die now, hmm?"

Kratos tore the sword from his stomach without a second's thought, hurling it at the man, watching with a sick sense of satisfaction as the metal smashed through flesh and bone, cracking his ribcage and sliding through a feebly beating heart.

He turned, grabbing Raine by the arm, running before he had even seen the Leader hitting the floor, knowing that he was dead.

--

Raine ran alongside Kratos, working her arm free of his grip so that she might run better, her breath coming in harsh rasps by the time they had reached the end of the glass corridor. She stole a glance at Kratos, alarmed to see him struggling for breath just as she was, a hand clasped over the wound in his abdomen, now bleeding freely.

She would've commented on it, told him to stop running and let her attend to it…but then the sound of battle crashed over them as they crashed through the doors of the tower, staring out at the 'courtyard' of the base.

It was filled with moving figures, half-elves and humans fighting against one another. The half-elves dressed in white or grey rags were filing out of a thin passage way, a figure in red waving them out. In the middle of the crowd, two girls fighting back-to-back, one with a shock of violet hair, the other a shock of striking pink.

"Siofra!"

Kratos's head snapped towards Raine at the cry.

"What?"

"Those girls there, we have to get to them, they're barely holding off the soldiers."

"And you think we can?"

"Well we have to try."

Raine darted into the crowd, leaving a stunned Kratos' behind as he cursed and flung himself into the crowd, following her, sword ripping through enemies as he pushed his way through.

He caught up with her within minutes, hacking through a man as he aimed for the pink-haired girl Raine was shouting to.

"Kratos!"

He threw a guard out of the way, turning as he recognised the voice.

"Sequoia?"

Tackling another soldier out of the way, he broke into the circle Raine and the two other young women were holding in the mass of fighters.

"We have to get out of here, now. Most of the captives are almost out and we can't hold off the guards for much longer," Kratos stated to the women, turning and breaking a nearby soldier's neck with his hands. "Our troops are starting to fall, as long as we can outrun the enemy or get to a better fighting spot, we'll be free."

"How do you suppose we get out of here?" Raine shouted, picking up a spear someone had dropped and jabbing at a soldier with it.

"Fight and run."

--

They fought through a seemingly endless crowd of humans, grabbing and adding half-elves to their party as and when they found them, shouting orders of retreat as they desperately struggled through. They inched towards the exit, for every soldier they killed there seemed to be five more and they were weakening fast.

Coe turned, stabbing a man through the stomach as he aimed for Sequoia, the girl returning the gesture by killing someone who had ambushed him in the middle of the attack and Kratos would've nodded appreciatively at their team-work having found each other, had he not been on the brink of collapsing.

He raised his sword, slicing through the sword arm of someone on his right, his own left hand pushing Raine out of the path of another to see red gloved hands pulling her further out of the way.

"Lloyd!"

"Dad! Professor! Regal and everyone else are already out, we need to get to them."

"Are all of our forces out?"

"…All of the ones that have survived. I flew over a few minutes ago to check…"

"Alright. Sequoia, Coe and…"

"Siofra."

"Get out of here, now, follow the path up and out."

"There're people waiting on the other side for us, you need to get them away from here."  
The half-elves nodded, sprinting up the path as Lloyd leapt in front of his father and teacher, fighting off the soldiers who remained.

"We can't kill them all," Raine stated, swinging her spear at one "and we can't outrun them."

"I'm well aware." Kratos replied, kicking one away.

"So how do we get away?"  
"We've got that covered." Lloyd stated, "Just…get up the tunnel."

"We're not leaving you Lloyd."  
"I'm not asking you to I'm coming with you. Now run."

They turned, sprinting up the rocky tunnel towards the surface.

"When we get to the top," Lloyd shouted "We need to fly out of the way of the entrance."

"Some of us can't!" Raine snapped.

"Then let me carry you for the appropriate period."

She turned her head, looking at Kratos as he sprinted behind her.

"There's no…"

"It isn't up for discussion!"

Wings released simultaneously as the daylight filtered into the tunnel and Kratos beat his wings experimentally.

"Dad, Professor, you go first…I need more space to unfold my wings." Lloyd added, seeing the older two starting to object.

Kratos nodded, watching the circle of light getting larger as they approached, the thunder of footsteps behind them spurring them on.

Raine gasped sharply as Kratos scooped her into his arms and sprang into the air as they reached the lip of the tunnel, her hands clutching at his arms as he circled in the air to watch Lloyd clear the entrance a few seconds later.

They waited with bated breath, expecting to see the soldiers come pouring out into the open air seconds later…but there was a figure in grey, standing on the steep cliff wall above the gates to the tunnel, a glowing, red magic circle surrounding him.

"That's Genis!"

Lloyd was already swooping down towards him even as the half-elf finished his incantation and cast his spell, just as the faces of Saloth'sarian guards began to appear at the tunnels entrance.

Huge cracks appeared in the earth, splitting it along the gates, molten lava beginning to spew up between spider webbing cracks as they tore down the tunnel.

Metal gates capsized, falling and twisting and crumbling as rocks were spewed from cracks in a torrent of fire, engulfing the area in a cataclysm of fire and rock, the roar of it almost deafening the airborne couple.

From the cliff alongside the firework display, a pair of young men sped away from scene, borne by a pair of iridescent eagle's wings as they made their way to safety.

Holding Raine securely in his arms, Kratos circled over the collapsing tunnel entrance before following the boys as lava poured down the tunnel, destroying all traces of the Saloth'sarian base.

* * *

Well I hope that didn't disappoint and was worth the wait. Only one or two chapters to go now.

Reviews are, as always, appreciated.


	21. In Turmoil

A.N: A slightly shorter chapter than I intended to write but...I think it was a good ending.

Enjoy.

* * *

In turmoil

Kratos landed heavily in a quiet area of the plateau surrounding the great tree, away from the mass of newly freed half-elves embracing and rejoicing at their freedom. Setting Raine down gently the angel sank to his knees, panting.

Raine was at his side in a second white hands pressing against the wound across his abdomen, trying to staunch the steady flow of blood from the injury and Kratos inhaled sharply at the contact.

"Sorry," Raine apologised surprisingly quickly "but we need to stop…"

He waved her sentence off with his hand, already knowing, his left hand joining hers to press at the gash. Calloused, rough finger tips brushed against long digits, a subtle jolt of warmth passing from flesh to flesh.

Raine's lips parted, trying to form something, _anything_to say to the man knelt beside her that would just vaguely hint at what she felt for him.

What was it that Yuan had said? A '_beautiful reunion of two people who didn't realise they were in love'._Which meant that...Kratos felt the same way she was realising she did but…would either of them be able to admit it?

A quiet grunt from Kratos alerted Raine to the fact that now was not the appropriate time to enter into that discussion. The man was injured for a start, and that would have to be attended to even before they sorted out the mass of half-elves over the other side of the area.

"Dad! Professor!"

Heads turned simultaneously at the shout from Lloyd as he ran over, Genis and Regal just behind him. The young man skidded to a halt beside them.

"You guys ok?"

A nod from Kratos, an eye-roll from Raine.

"It's not worth worrying about." Kratos stated, having seen Raine's response to his nod.

"Of course. The fact that you're wounded and bleeding obviously isn't worth concerning myself over." Sarcasm dripped from her voice and Kratos stood up abruptly, making Raine jerk back slightly.

"It is not an issue."  
"Yes, it is."

"Raine, I appreciate your concern but..."

"No you don't!" she cut him off "Letting me heal that for you would be appreciating my concern."

"Actually that would be pandering to your concern."

"Don't get pedantic with me," she jabbed a finger at the man who towered over her "It needs healing."

"There are others who need aid more so than myself. I will survive."

"Yes, you will, but you won't be able to help us get that lot sorted out if you're weak from blood loss."

Lloyd held up his hands placatingly.

"Uh guys…you'd be a lot more useful if you'd stop arguing and come and help."  
"We're not arguing," Kratos stated, drawing himself up to a fuller height "We're.." he was cut off by a burst of pain and he looked down to see Raine's hand pressed firmly against his abdomen once again, a glow emitting from her pale hand, healing the wound.

She pulled away after a moment.

"It's not fully healed, but it's enough to stop the bleeding," she looked up to meet Kratos' eyes "Now stop being such a child and come and help."

And with that, the half-elven professor turned on her heel and stormed off towards the masses.

Regal smirked, then bit his lip, attempting to stop himself from laughing at the sight of Kratos Aurion being reprimanded by a woman almost a full foot shorter than him, and he promptly followed Raine back to the other elves, sniggering as he went. Genis went with him in much the same manner, leaving father and son alone together.

"So…you and the professor like each other, huh?...It's really not easy to see."

"Wh…then how did you…?"  
"Ah…Yuan woke up for a bit and I think he's sort of…delusional or something. He keeps talking about you two."

"Does he now?"

"Uh…yeah, he does."

"That was a rhetorical question Lloyd," Kratos sighed, seeing the confused look on Lloyd's face "It did not require an answer because the answer was obvious, thereby answering itself."

"….right…I think we should go help."

The younger Aurion pointed to the crowd of half-elves and Kratos nodded, walking alongside his son as they returned to the masses.

--

Lloyd sat high in the branches of the Kharlan tree, watching over the area that was swamped with half-elves, Zelos sitting quietly by his side.

Or at least they were _supposed _to be watching over the area. They were actually watching Kratos and Raine as they made their way through the crowds, the human splitting up large groups of half-elves so that his half-elf companion could heal them and send them on their way.

Not that they were leaving them to fend for themselves so soon after escaping of course, but they were slowly siphoning off groups of ten at a time, healing them and then handing them into the care of Regal who would then walk them to the edge of the plateau. From there the half-elves were taken in by either the Renegades or Mizuho who had, somehow, been alerted to the fact they were required.

There were several other people running around, healing people too, others merely being taken off straight away into the care of the organisations.

Yuan had been taken back by the Renegades a few hours ago, his subordinates showing shock and worry over the state of their leader and he had been quickly carted off for intensive care, along with the half-elves in the most dire of states.

Lloyd and Zelos watched as Kratos took hold of Raine's upper arm gently to gain her attention, speaking to her quietly.

Raine stared back at him incredulously.

"Well that's a relationship that'll go well if it ever occurs." Zelos snorted, running fingers through wet, freshly washed hair.

"Yeah you're not kidding."

Raine yanked her arm out of Kratos' grip and the seraph took a step back, giving her some space but he continued speaking. Lloyd wished he knew what they were saying.

To both his and Zelos' surprise, given the reaction she had just given Kratos, she looked away and nodded before meeting his eyes again. Kratos nodded approvingly, pointing to a quiet area of the plateau and guiding her away, calling out to someone along the way.

The couple passed under the tree, right beneath Lloyd and Zelos' feet and as the red-head leaned over to mutter something to his friend, Kratos looked up sharply, giving a warning glare to him before continuing on his way with Raine.

--

"Have you spoken to the Renegades about Yuan?" Raine asked, plucking something from her clothing, nervously trying to make conversation.

"No, I felt his condition spoke for itself."

"I see….do you not want to be with him to watch over his condition?"

"I don't see that it is necessary. Yuan is strong enough to pull through this, I am sure. That aside, given his condition it would be most beneficial to him to rest without any interruption. My presence will only disturb him whilst he is sleeping."

"..Right."

The pair stopped at a sunlit patch of earth and Kratos took a seat on a nearby rock, watching Raine as she settled opposite him, pulling out a wrapped parcel of food. She tore into the sandwich hungrily as if she hadn't eaten in months.

After a few minutes she slowed her chewing, looking up at her companion.

"I can see why you disturb people when they're resting."

"How so?"

"Having someone staring at you is very disconcerting."

"My apologies, I did not wish to make you feel uncomfortable." He pulled his gaze away from her, letting it rest on something in the distance instead.

Raine swallowed, watching Kratos gaze out across the surroundings just she had watched him walk, and fight and heal and help and hurt for all those years she had known him. She had thought at first that it was a simple animal attraction that made her watch him so, for who could resist watching such an attractive specimen? Kratos exuded confidence, strength and beauty by the gallon so it was no wonder really…who could resist watching the liquid motion of his body? His amazing grace.

"You are lucky I am not as sensitive to be stared at as you are," Kratos commented, turning his garnet gaze back to her, clearly having caught her staring at him.

"Well, I…" she sputtered for a moment before locking eyes with him "I was trying to get revenge."

"By making me uncomfortable?"

"Of course."

"In that case, I suggest you change tack. I am no stranger to being the subject of people's attentions."

"Modest, aren't we?"

"I merely speak the truth."

"So what does make you uncomfortable? Or is revealing that one of the things which will make you uncomfortable and therefore you won't answer me."

A smirk tugged at Kratos' lips.

He kept his gaze steady on hers. "Yes."

"I see. So…" she settled back "What else makes you uncomfortable?"

"Why would I tell you that?"

"Because you've just told me that revealing things about yourself makes you uncomfortable."

"But you already knew that."

"True…how about I try to guess?"

"If you so wish, I'll play along."

"Good. Now…let's see," she tilted her head as if examining him and Kratos drew himself up under her scrutiny, lifting his head and closing his eyes.

"I think," she drawled "that growing close to people makes you uncomfortable."

He swallowed sharply at her words.

"Am I correct?"

"You realise that you are the only person I'd agree to this with?"

"Yes. But tell me…why is that?"

He opened his eyes and looked at her, as if saying 'Isn't it obvious?"

"So what's the answer to the question, Kratos?"

"Which?"

"Either."

"To the first…" he caught her blue eyes again and nodded slowly, looking away afterwards.

"I see." Raine stated again, placing her half-eaten sandwich on the floor and wandering over to the man in front of her, standing in front of him, regarding him as he refused to look at her.

"Then…" she whispered and Kratos' head turned back towards her fractionally "I hope this doesn't make you too uncomfortable…"

He turned fully back to face her lips parting in question.

"What…"

She pressed her lips against his cutting him off, hands resting on either side of the rock her was sat on, supporting herself as she leant into the act.

Kratos didn't respond to her and after an unbearable amount of time, she pulled away from him, eyes averted.

"I'm sorry," she breathed "I thought…Yuan said…"

"Raine…"

No response.

"Raine…look at me…please…"

She turned at the word, eyes lifting to meet his once again, and it took everything in her not to look away after such a rejection.

His hand reached up, cupping her jaw.

"Your action was…not unwelcome," an attempt at a smile flittered across his lips "I was merely surprised."  
"…"

"But…"

"But…" Raine repeated, looking away.

"I am in two minds."

"How!? It's simple enough, either you do or you don't."

"Raine...it isn't. Not for me."

"Do you feel like I do? Did you _want _to respond?"  
"…yes."

"Then why is this complicated?"

"Because of circumstance. Because of…my past, my existence, my sins…I am not mortal, I'm not even of a race that is _supposed_ to be on this earth. And…because if I am to be with you, I allow myself to be happy and to forget about my crimes…I will no longer punish myself for the wrong I've done."

Raine almost rolled her eyes at the comment, stepping away from him.

"Don't you think you've punished yourself enough?"

"Would I have said what I just did if I did?"

"Fair point but…is fifteen years spent mourning the loss of your child not enough?...Is twenty years spent in agony from the loss of your partner not enough?"

Kratos tilted his head slightly, eyes straying into the distance. "Twenty years? I suppose that it has been that long…although…"

"It's nothing but a blink of an eye to you."

The seraph nodded.

"Alright…"

Raine turned away, walking back to where she had been sitting previously, eating her sandwich and she picked her lunch up from the rock she had left it on before turning back to the seraph whose gaze was still distant.

"I'm going back…and I'll leave you to think about…well," she waved her hand vaguely "this."

She headed back towards the camp, walking slowly away from Kratos, stopping after a few metres and twisting to face him.

"Just one thing Kratos.."

His gaze returned to her.

"Even if you are interested…just know that…I'm not going to wait forever."

And with that she turned again, walking back to join the other half-elves, her head full of thoughts and emotions.

Kratos stared after, heart and head in turmoil.

* * *

And all shall be resolved next chapter...worry not, my readers.

As always, please review.


	22. Relationships

A.N: Well here it is. Chapter 21. The chapter of truth. Hopefully it won't disappoint.

Enjoy!

* * *

Relationships

Two weeks. 

Raine looked at the calendar as she walked out of the bathroom, towelling her dry after her shower, white robe tied firmly about her.

The picture above the calendar, a sunlit beach scene peppered with families smiling and enjoying themselves in the sun, made her frown.

Why had she bought this particular calendar again? Hell, the one with puppies on would've been better.

Her eyes strayed down to the circled date, snorting at the irony that she had something so grim noted on it beneath such a happy picture, 

July 15th. The day of her rescue. Exactly one month after her kidnapping on June 15th,

One would assume that being rescued from the hell hole of Saloth'sar would be a good day to remember, but of course…most people didn't get shot down by someone they loved on such a day. A typically day of rescue would be filled with the handsome knight fighting off the monsters to get to the princess.

Which of course he had.

Then the prince would rescue the princess and lead her safely from her long imprisonment, saving her heroically from her captor along the way.

Which again, he had.

Then the handsome noble man and the beautiful princess would share a passionate, romantic kiss.

Which they sort of had.

Then the knight would fall down on one knee and ask the princess to carry him. She would say yes and he would whisk her away to his castle to be married. And they would live happily ever after.

Which they hadn't. Even in the vaguest sense.

For two days after the rescue, Raine had aided with the rescued half-elves, barely seeing hide or hair of Kratos until Lloyd had, in an extremely bold not to mention slightly stupid moment, turned on her and snapped at her to go home, rest and come back to help when she was ready to.

He had been fervently backed up by Kratos, who had stood behind him, arms folded across his chest, nodding slowly in agreement.

So for just under two weeks she had been here. Home. With nothing to do. At all.

Zelos and Sheena had dropped in a few days ago, having also been thrown off the rescue committee due to their 'need' to recuperate from their ordeal but apart from them, she had only seen Genis and heard gossip and news off Regal, Presea and Lloyd, usually in the form of letters.

Kratos, though it would have been unlikely for him to have written or visited when he was busy in the first place, had remained silent. He had even been excluded from the letters the others had sent her, presumably at his request.

He probably figured that she would get over it if he avoided her long enough.

As for he himself, well…he _wanted_to suffer. Because that made him the tough, broody, mysterious, broken-hearted martyr, didn't it?

Wandering over to the window, she opened it and leant out, smelling the slightly salty air of Sybak, looking over at the university over the other side of the town.

She had not been allowed to return to work yet either and Raine was left feeling completely and totally useless.

Frustrated by boredom and Kratos' attitude she stood suddenly and dressed, heading out of the house and slamming the door behind her, not knowing where she was going to go, but not particularly caring either. Just so long as she wasn't in that damn house.

She wandered out of town, nodding to a few half-elves she recognised from Saloth'sar as she did. They smiled warmly in return, knowing just who she was and what part she had played in the escape. Without her, they would all be dead by now.

Raine wasn't sure how long she had walked, in her absent-mindedness she had lost track of time and direction. She found herself meandering aimlessly thorough a thick forest, wishing she had her staff with her when she heard a branch crack in the distance. 

She settled for picking up a thick branch instead, hoping she wouldn't have to try and use it as a weapon.

As she travelled further into the forest, thin beams of sunlight striking through the leaves like a minute version of the judgement spell, she crouched, finding a short sword standing upright in the grass.

She pulled it out slowly, noting that the grass where it had cast a shadow was withered and yellow. It had been there for a few weeks at least then.

Walking deeper into the labyrinth, wondering whom had left the sword and why, she found more weapons littering the ground. Staffs and swords and bows and arrows. A variety of weapons scattered here and there, lying aimlessly around the dense forest. Until suddenly, the wall of trees stopped and she found herself in a small clearing, a ramshackle cottage shaded by a cliff just up ahead.

The grass in the immediate area was trampled flat by a multitude of feet, more weapons lying scattered around the area, gouges in the earth where they had sunk in.

Grass grew over some however, nature already claiming its forest back.

Even the cottage, surrounded by its black, wrought iron fence was being overtaken by plants, ivy curling up over the building. Rust corroding the iron, turning black to red.

The lawns inside the fence were mown, recently too though, a log bench sat under a boarded broken window, a multitude of weapons sitting neatly upon it, as if the owner had gone around and picked them all up, trying to tidy the immediate area.

Gods, had someone trained an army here?

She wandered over to the fence, hands curling around it as she looked at the picturesque little cottage, eyes scanning it.

It looked a mess but…with a little work; it could be fixed up nicely. It reminded her of a cross between Altessa and Dirk's house. Maybe in a few hundred years she would buy it, if no one lived here already and she could use it as a retreat for the holidays.

Or maybe she and her partner would live here if they decided to start a family.

But...it was a little early to be thinking about that. After all, she needed to find someone she was interested in first.

True, she had. He was just too uptight to do anything about it.

"It takes most people at least a few days to find this house," a low, familiar voice commented "and that's with directions."

She turned slowly, trying to make it appear that he hadn't caught her off guard,

"Well then, I must have a natural affinity for old ruins."

"In more sense than one." Kratos commented, stepping past her and into the garden, wandering to the log bench and dumping an armful of weapons on it.

She raised an eyebrow before getting his meaning.

"You would describe yourself as an old ruin?"

"I would describe myself as ancient. Most people who know me would describe me as being ruined."

She should have been angry with him, given his treatment of her the other day, but she could only feel pity and longing for the seraph as he wandered back towards her, resting on the fence as it nothing had ever happened between them.

And at his cool exterior, anger suddenly rose.

"Another reason for me to avoid being with you?"

"Only if you see it as one. It depends largely on whether you think I'm as broken as everyone else seems to."

She snorted, changing the subject, not wanting to discuss this right now.

"I haven't heard from you since I left the camp."

…well it was a slight shift anyway.

"I've been busy. I was called to the Renegade base when they feared he was about to die."  
Raine started, suddenly wary of his tone.

"He hasn't…?"

Kratos harrumphed. "Hardly. He went into a coma for a few days and then woke up…"

"So why were you gone for two weeks?"

"The Renegades seem to have the impression that since Yuan and I have known each other for four thousand years and have been friends for much of that time, we want to spend every waking moment with each other."

"You and Yuan seem to barely tolerate each other at the best of times."

Kratos shrugged. "Exactly. Although…we do interact better than we would have most people believe."

"Why?"

"Force of habit. When Yuan, Mithos, Martel and I were travelling together, I would spend most of our time we spent in town with Yuan while Mithos and Martel would rest in the inn. Since we were a human and a half-elf being seen by the other public would we mock them by making jibes at each other. Unfortunately, as time has worn on and we've got older and…less patient, those jibes have become…more real."

"That's…"

"Besides, Yuan has never been one for showing sentiment…and I am much the same, either by nature or the passage of time."  
"And you're ok with that?"  
"It is what our friendship is based on...to change that now would be to change the nature of a relationship older and stronger than you can imagine. It is the fact that we can jibe that proves we know each other well and are comfortable with one another.

I would not make such personal…teasing to a person I did not feel that bond with. It would seem inappropriate to me."  
"Would you treat everyone that way? IS that how people know that you like them?...should that ever occur."

A wry smiled twisted his mouth.

"No. Different forms of relationships call for different behaviours, as you well know. I would not even consider behaving like that towards Lloyd, for example…although it's unlikely he would understand if I did and would probably take offence anyway."

"I see."

The seraph nodded and the two stood in silence for sometime.

"I've been contemplating…" Kratos stated suddenly, causing Raine to look at him, turning her gaze that her turned distant in him.

"Yes?"  
He gave a quick smile, something she was unused to seeing on him and straightened.

"Would you care to join me for a walk?"

"I…uh…yes."

Another smile and it was softer, lasted for a second longer this time. She flushed under the expression, falling into step beside him and holding her head down until the blood receded from her cheeks.

Again she was confronted with the knowledge that she should be angry at him; that she should walk off to prove a point, not follow him like some wayward puppy.

But…he was offering something of himself to her, and surely that was worth staying for?

He led her on a meandering path through the woods, up a small mountain trail that looked like it had not been used for some time, until they reached an isolated plateau that overlooked the forest.

Raine wandered to the edge of the cliff, looking out over the expanse of trees below, just able to make out the angular lines of Sybak in the distance.

Kratos wandered to her side, staring out across the view with her.

"I didn't realise I had walked so far from home."

The seraph made a slight gesture that might have been a shrug.

"Your mind was clearly on different issues."

"You're not going to tell me that I should be home, resting and recovering from my _ordeal_?"

Another smile tugged at his lips.

"I would not have lead you out this far if I thought you needed to recuperate further. Besides, a woman with such a strong personality as yours is unlikely to follow that advice."

"Strong personality?"

"You know your own mind, and I think that that is perhaps an understatement."  
"Hmm."

"I would guess from that tone that you don't appreciate the idea."

"I've been told it's…unbecoming of a lady." There was a harsh, almost spat edge to her tone at that.

"Perhaps some would think that. I personally find it a rather attractive quality in a woman…"  
"Really? Why? Most men hate women who argue with them."

"Well for a start, I am not most men. Secondly…I don't see why the idea of someone with no spark, no fire in them is attractive. I'm not saying that I want to argue with said person all the time but…"

His eyes caught hers.

"I've been told by many people that I need to be with a woman who can put me in my place."

Raine smiled at the idea, a laugh rising in her throat.

"Like anyone could do that."

"There are a select few who can, believe it or not."

"Anyone in mind?"

He turned fully to face her. "I think you already know the answer to that."

"So you finally decided that your sins aren't worth atoning?" She intended for the comment to be hurtful, for a reason she didn't quite understand. Perhaps it was for his rejection of her two weeks ago. In any case, it got the desired result, and he turned away, a pained guilty expression on his face.

"No…I…"

He turned back to her a second later, as if it would vindicate whatever he was about to say.

"I just realised that…there are some things that are worth more. Besides…perhaps true atonement is beyond my reach."  
"Is that so bad?"

Staring squarely into her eyes, the answer came without hesitation.

"No…it isn't. Not if I have someone who can put me in my place."

Raine rolled her eyes, smiling and shaking her head at the same time.

"You're so romantic."  
"I try."

"Was that a glimpse of a sense of humour?"  
"I believe it was."

She grinned…but the expression faded a moment later as she considered the situation,

"Raine?"

"I need something from you before this;" she waved a hand vaguely "will work."

"And this is going to be a case of 'No, I can't tell you' isn't it?"

She nodded.

"Then…" he took a step forwards and slowly took her hand "Firstly, I apologise for my reaction to you when you admitted your feelings to me. I understand how much courage that takes…and how much it hurts to be rejected."

He took a breath,

"And I apologise for not having the gall to do this sooner, more precisely, for trying to make you wait though I already knew the answer to what you were saying.

Most importantly… I apologise for not doing_ this_ sooner."

He took a step forwards, so that he was mere inches from her. "Forgive me…" he breathed.

Lips were pressed gently against hers an instant later, curled fingers catching her beneath the chin to gently tilt her head up.

For a moment, Raine contemplated pulling away, or not responding at all…just as he had done to her. But of course, that would be spiteful and childish and…if she was honest, feeling Kratos' lips pressed almost nervously against hers, showing a side she wasn't aware he had was too good to refuse.

She leant into the kiss just as he started to pull away her hands winding around his back, pulling him back towards her.

He gave a surprised groan, apparently not expecting the movement. From the way he pressed himself more firmly against her though…she guessed he was enjoying it.

Eventually, after an immeasurable amount of time, they separated, taking an opportunity to breathe.

"I guess this means we're…involved?" Raine asked, sounding almost like a shy, teenage girl.

"Unless you see a problem. Personally, I don't have any."

She shook her head before rolling her eyes up to the sky.

"How long have we been here?"

"…I would say it's midday. So…an hour at most."

"I should head back to town."

The seraph nodded, stepping back from her, eyebrows lifting a little in surprise when she slowly slid her small hand into his.

He closed his own around hers gently, feeling soft, smooth skin beneath calloused fingertips.

"Care to join me for lunch?" Raine asked.

Kratos smiled.

"Would this be a date?"

"If you want it to be. Although I'd hope we're past that stage already."

-"We are but…are you refusing to let me buy lunch for you?"

"..In that case, this _is_a date."

The seraph snorted, a low chuckle escaping his throat and though it was not the first time she had heard it…it was the first time she realised how much she loved making him make that particular noise, knowing that there were few people in the world that could provoke such a reaction in Kratos Aurion.

With Raine tugging on his hand gently, the two walked through the woods together, heading back towards town. As a couple.

* * *

So there it was. Hope you liked it.

And now we come to the rather (to me at least) saddening fact that this is the penultimate chapter. Or ultimate, depending on how you look at it. I will be doing an epilogue just to round things off.

However, if you're interested, I have plans for another Kraine fic which shall be started very soon after this one is finished.

Anyhoo, as always, please review.


	23. Epilogue

A.N: Tis the end, I am afraid, the final, very short epilogue.

Apologies for the new formatting, but ff won't allow the double dash lines anymore...

* * *

Epilogue

Kratos and Raine stood at the head of the crowd, surveying faces of people they knew, picking them out among a sea of strangers.

Stepping up onto a pedestal, Raine tugged Kratos up beside her, the man's mere presence silencing the crowd of humans and half-elves alike. When quiet had fallen over the crowd Kratos cleared his throat, slowly and deliberately making sure that everyone was watching as he took Raine's hand and turned her towards him, kissing her as his hand reached up to brush long, silver locks of hair away from a slightly pointed ear.

Her own hands threaded into auburn strands, revealing the human's ear even as she turned her back to him, revealing the branded scar on her back…the sign she was a half-elf.

Anger rolled through the crowd as realisation dawned on them and Raine broke away from Kratos at the reaction, smiling.

The revolution of the half-elves had just begun…

* * *

Words whispered through the world, stories of a union between half-ling and human…saviours of the race of half-elves.

Campaigns took place, support for race and relationship alike and through time and effort the world began to change. Little by little, they found the discrimination to fade as the world was healed and two people stood at its head, backed by friends, family and kinsmen.

For all the adversity they would face in the beginning, two people would stand at the forefront of the greatest movement for equality that any world would ever see...and succeed in their goal.

* * *

Well there you are, the end of all things.

Hope you've enjoyed reading this...it's been something of a difficult task to complete this fic...but it's finally done. So I'd like to say thank you to all those people who've given me so much support whilst I've been writing this.

Anyway, If you're interested, I have another Kraine fic planned that I'm hoping to have the first chapter ready for in a couple of weeks. It's not a seuqel to this or anything but...

Anyhoo, as always, a final review would be nice...

This is Link-luvr, signing off.

* * *


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